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FROM CLIME TO CLIME 



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WHY AND HOW I JOURNEYED 21,630 MILES 



BY 

SAMUEL MURRAY. 



New York 
CHAS. P. YOUNG CO., Book and Job Printers 

98 John Street. [Tel., 1275 John] 






u 



IVIAK 3 I9U5 

COPY B. 



Copyrighted, 1905 

BY 

SAMUEL MURRAY 



To THE Reader: 

Only through the insistent entreaties * 
from admirers of the author's success- 
ful undertaking has the tale of his re- 
markable journey found its way into 
hook form. 

Mr. Murray had no thought of put- 
ting into type his observations. How- 
ever, having completed what he set out 
to accomplish, and while relating to 
acquaintances brief accounts of some 
of the marvelous things he had seen, 
he was prevailed upon to write, in his 
own way, the narrative of his travels, 
which he has done entirely from 
memory, not having taken any notes 
as he went from place to place. 

A Friend. 



FROM CLIME TO CLIMK 

HTLANTA, New Orleans, Houston, San 
Antonio, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Fran- 
cisco, and all points West! California 
Express! All aboard!" 
The above announcement was made in 
the Pennsylvania depot at Washington, 
D. C, on February 20, 1903, at 9 o'clock P. M., and 
was in no respect different from that announced three 
times each week, as the California Express, for a limited 
time, left Washington over the Southern Railway to 
New Orleans, and from there over the Southern Pacific 
Railroad to Pacific Coast points. 

But on this particular evening I was among the ex- 
press' passengers, and it marked the initial start of a 
year and a half's trip I had set out to make through North 
America. My first stop was to be Los Angeles, Cal. 

From a workingman's viewpoint a trip of this charac- 
ter was something new, for I had resolved to travel "on 
cushions" all the way, instead of in the manner by which 
"knights of freedom" flit from clime to clime — via freight 
trains, stealing rides on baggage cars, and walking part 
of the way, the latter mode generally not of their choice. 
It had occurred to me it was possible to hedge the 
borders of North , America with money which I could 
earn by working at my trade as I went from place to 
place. I am a printer and linotype operator. 

My proposed trip was more or less suggested by the 
advanced state of the printing trade, brought about by 
the linotype machine, the many improvements in presses, 
and other innovations scarcely heard of a decade ago. 



Generally, a printer can travel from city to city with 
little fear of securing enough work to make both ends 
meet. I had no doubt but that I could make expenses, 
but, as I had always a yearning to see Nature's best in 
its varied forms, I purposed gratifying this desire with 
the surplus money I would be able to save after meeting 
my usual daily requirements. 

My itinerary included the principal cities and the most 
noted places of interest to be found in North America — 
Yosemite Valley, Yellowstone National Park, most of the 
scenery about Colorado Springs, Royal Gorge, Grand 
Canyon of Arizona, Mexico, the World's Fair, Mam- 
moth Cave, Niagara Falls and the Thousand Islands. 

To most people it would seem that only a person of 
means could successfully carry out a tour of this kind. 
I felt sure, however, it could be done, but in only one 
way — through perseverance, denying myself the usual 
little luxuries which make inroads on one's purse, prac- 
ticing hard-pan economy in other ways, and using the 
money thus saved to accomplish what might at first seem 
an impossible task. 

From the brief sketches I had read of these famous and 
marvelous points of interest, I felt I would be well repaid 
for my temporary economy by the knowledge I would 
gather and the pleasure I would derive from visiting 
them; and, even if I would suffer some inconveniences, 
my ultimate gain would be far in excess of any priva- 
tions I might be forced to undergo. 

Many and many a lonely hour I spent, denying myself 
the companionship of my fellowmen, in order to prevent 
the slipping away of money which generally occurs 
through association. I deemed this an important factor 
toward a successful termination of the task I had set for 
myself. 

It was Friday evening, February 20, 1903, when I 
left Washington, D. C, and, in order to fulfill my under- 



taking in the time set, I should reach the same city on 
Friday, August 19, 1904. 

I had estimated I would have to travel 21,000 miles to 
cover the territory I had laid out, and felt quite certain a 
trip of this nature had not previously been attempted by 
any one in a similar manner. 

. If "a poor start means a good ending," I had all the 
assurance of finishing on time one could wish for, as the 
train left the depot an hour late, and was held in the 
railroad yards on the Virginia side of the Potomac River 
by congested traffic several hours during the night. I 
expected when I awoke in the morning to find myself at 
the North Carolina border. Instead, however, we had 
traveled only a little further than half way across Vir- 
ginia. 

Now, if this was to be a sample of some of the ob- 
stacles with which I would have to contend during my 
journey, it certainly looked as if I had "bitten off more 
than I could chew." 

From the car window while passing through North 
Carolina I observed the poorest section of country 
through which I had ever passed or been in, where farm- 
ing is attempted as a means of livelihood. The land con- 
sists of red clay, and, in order to hold what substance 
still remains, a system of terraces is resorted to, remind- 
ing one, if the illustration would be permitted, of skewer- 
ing a roast. 

I reached Atlanta that evening. We were scheduled 
to arrive in New Orleans at noon time the following 
day, which was to give us an hour and a half's waiting 
time there before our car was to be coupled to the South- 
ern Pacific train. This waiting time was to be spent in 
looking about New Orleans. As it was, we reached 
New Orleans two hours late, missing both our promised, 
outing and train connections. This necessitated our car 
being attached to a "special." 



8 

By this time, the passengers of our tourist car had be- 
come acquainted with each other, and the tediousness of 
riding and the disappointment of not being afforded 
a brief glance of New Orleans was somewhat offset by 
the pleasant little chats that acquaintance brings about 
under such circumstances. 

Prominent among my fellow passengers was an esti- 
mable lady of New England, whose several sons have 
held high public offices^ but whose name I do not feel 
at liberty to divulge here. She had reached fourscore 
years, yet was traveling alone to California to seek re- 
newed health. There was also a Scotch lady from San 
Francisco, returning from a trip abroad to be !pres- 
ent at her daughter's marriage; a young Eastern lady, 
a doctor, going to San Francisco to accept a position 
in a hospital there ; a German lady, just from Berlin, with 
her two small children, on her way to Los Angeles to 
join her husband, whom she had not seen for six months ; 
and, lastly, there was a big, double-chested Irishman. 

The "special" to which our car was attached at New 
Orleans left for Houston, we were told, to catch the 
train we had missed. It failed to overtake the regular 
train, however, and after a great deal of jerking, bump- 
ing and numerous side-tracking performances during the 
night, we arrived at Houston, Texas, at 8 o'clock on the 
third morning, eight hours behind schedule time. Here 
our "special" was abandoned, and we were forced to 
wait until noon time, when our car was attached to an- 
other "California Express." 

Having been in Houston some years before, I acted as 
escort to the doctor lady and the German lady, children 
included, showing them about Texas' metropolis. The 
German lady's little girl, whom she carried in her arms 
became squirmy and wanted to walk. At the doctor's 
suggestion that she put the child down, the mother, in 
broken English, impatiently remarked: "I have carried 



dees chir seex thousand miles alretty!" However, she 
seemed little the worse for her herculean task. 

Sundown of the same day found us at San Antonio, 
and about 20 miles further on an accident happened to 
our engine, necessitating a stop for repairs. Shortly after 
we heard a heavy freight puffing behind us and ap- 
proaching rapidly on a down grade. A flagman from 
our train hastily unloosened the signal lights on our car 
(which was the rear one) and started on a quick run to 
warn the oncoming freight. 

It was a calm night, and the freight could be plainly 
heard approaching. Our flagman, on a dead run, had 
covered about a mile, when he almost fell exhausted. 
He stopped, and, wnth just strength enough left to fran- 
tically wave the danger lights, he dropped to the ground. 
The engineer of the freight train had seen the signals, 
and in an instant applied the brakes. 

We had all left our car, expecting a smashup. Just 
at that moment the repairs to our engine were completed, 
and our engineer, with two sharp, shrill whistles, caused 
us to quickly get aboard, and our train pulled away. The 
freight train came up to and passed the spot where we 
lay, but our train was by this time speeding on ahead, 
with all chance of an accident averted. 

We did not stop for the flagman, who had our rear car 
signal lights. No one but myself seemed to be aware of 
this fact, and I so informed the conductor, telling him 
finally, after several requests to provide our train with 
danger lights, that I had determined not to retire until 
I had seen this all important omission remedied. After 
another wait, I assisted the porter in placing a new set 
of red lights to the rear of our car. 

Next morning, the fourth day of my trip, found us in 
the "sand country," having lost several hours' time during 
the night. 

At Sierra Blanca, 90 miles east of El Paso, where the 



10 

Texas Pacific railroad and the Southern Pacific come to- 
gether, the doctor's services were in need. A trestle over 
which a Texas Pacific freight train was crossing gave 
way, the engine falling through, and the engineer was se- 
riously injured. Our lady doctor was the only one on the 
train. She hurriedly went to the mangled engineer and 
rendered all the assistance she could. He was carried to 
El Paso in the baggage car of our train, our doctor min- 
istering to his wants until the Gate City was reached, 
when she received unstinted words of kind appreciation 
from his people and trainmen. 

Breakfast is usually eaten at El Paso, but it was 4 
o'clock in the afternoon before we arrived at that place. 
Pretty late for breakfast. But that made no difference 
to the Scotch lady and myself, as the former had pro- 
vided herself with a large tin bread box of food, and the 
lady at whose house I roomed in Washington presented 
me, on the evening I left, with a large box of good 
lunch, which lasted me all the way. This is what it con- 
sisted of: Two broiled chickens, two pounds of chipped 
beef, two pounds of Taylor's prepared ham, one glass 
of grape preserve, one cup of butter, one cup of sugar, 
several cans of sardines, a tincup for coffee, two dozen 
biscuits, and one box of graham crackers. The box of 
food had the appearance of one containing enough ra- 
tions for a North Pole expedition. 

I had eaten all my biscuits and bought others at a sta- 
tion while our train stopped. The Scotch lady, noticing 
me carrying those in the car, remarked : "Buy no more 
bread; I have enough for us both." She certainly had, 
for the tin bread box was about as large as a washboiler. 

A stove is placed in tourist cars for the purpose of 
boiling eggs, making tea and coffee, and preparing sim- 
ilar light food, but the frying of steaks, eggs or other 
food which would create an odor is not allowed. Several 
passengers carried small naphtha lamps for that pur- 
pose, but were not permitted to use them. 



II 



At a station beyond Deming, N. M., where the train 
stopped, and at a time when our coterie had congregated 
about the New England lady's seat, we heard a dull thud 
in the middle of the car. We all looked that way, and 
saw a bundle of bedclothes moving irregularly about the 
floor. Upon investigation, the bundle, we found, con- 
tained little ''Heinie," the German woman's boy, who had 
fallen out of his berth into the aisle w^hile asleep. 

The Irishman, who had boarded our train at a station in 
Virginia, in the meantime, had made himself friendly 
with our lady passengers. He spent some of his visiting 
moments early during the trip in the Scotch lady's seat, 
whose company, after several visits, she did not seem 
to particularly care for. Also he would visit the New 
England lady. On one of his visits to the latter he made 
some unpolished mention of Mrs. Eddy, the head of Chris- 
tian Science. While the New England lady did not en- 
tirely believe in what Mrs. Eddy advocates, still when 
questionable reference was made to the character of the 
latter, the New England lady was much put out and 
greatly agitated. Seeing the mental exertion and annoy- 
ance the Irishman had caused her, I went to her rescue 
and prevented any further discussion of this matter. 

He had made a visit to Ireland, and while there at- 
tended King Edward's coronation in England. He had 
with him a box of coronation chinaware, which he insisted 
our lady passengers should look at. After he had finished 
showing them, the Scotch lady asked him if he were an 
American citizen, to which he answered in the affirm- 
ative. She intimated in a few words that it was not clear 
to her how any American citizen could seem to think so 
much of England's emiblems. 

It was on a later occasion, however, he brought upon 
himself a charge of verbal shrapnel that would forever 
seal the lips of most any man when in women's company. 
The Scotch lady was going down the aisle to make a 



12 

"call" on the New England lady. To do so it was nec- 
essary to pass the Irishman's seat. When she reached 
the seat he occupied, he coarsely asked : "Where are you 
going, ma ?" The Scotch blood could stand it no longer, 
and, with a withering look, but firm and polite manner, 
she said: "Were you my son, you would be younger 
looking, better looking, and better mannered!" 

In ways of this kind our Irishman had become some- 
what unpopular, failing at times to receive a cheery 
"good morning." 

Over the dusty, sandy, cactus-grown plains of Arizona 
we trundled along. At Palm Springs, Cal., the New 
England lady quit the train, and not far beyond we were 
riding through the almond, plum, apricot and orange 
groves of southern California. 

Six days from the time we left Washington we reached 
Los Angeles, seventeen hours late, where the German 
woman, Irishman and myself got off, the Scotch lady and 
doctor continuing to San Francisco. 

It took two porters to carry the German woman's pil- 
lows, mattresses, bedclothing of all kinds — in fact, she 
had a portable furnished room — from the car to the depot. 
I accompanied her inside the depot for the purpose of see- 
ing her safely to a hotel, were her husband not in waiting. 
After pushing our way a short distance inside the lobby 
of the depot, she, without warning, uttered a smothered 
shriek. A large, fine-looking man hurriedly came toward 
her, and — I looked the other way. I waited until greet- 
ings were exchanged, and, as I stepped toward her to 
bid her good-bye, she introduced me to her husband in 
German, of which I did not understand a word. 

LOS ANGELES, CAL, 

My ticket called for a five-day stop-over in Los An- 
geles, which I put to good use in looking about the city. 
But two seasons prevail in southern California — fall 



13 

and summer. In fact, California looks better in winter 
than in the summer, as in the winter the mountains and 
hills are green like the mountains of Vermont in summer, 
while, through infrequent rainfalls in the summer, the 
grass is dead, except in lawns and parks watered by irri- 
gation. 

In southern California the odor arising from orange 
groves is pronounced for miles. The ripening season is 
from December to May. The land on which the orange 
trees grow is all irrigated. The irrigation system of Cali- 
fornia, by the way, excels that to be found in any State 
of the arid country. It is by far the most economical also, 
as the bottom of the main ditches, and a considerable 
number of the minor ones, are cemented, thereby prevent- 
ing a waste of water by seepage that takes place where 
the bottom is of no harder substance than sandy earth. 

I have no hesitancy in stating the best equipped street 
cars in North America are to be found in Los Angeles, 
and the service is fast and good. The city is well supplied 
with shady and flowered parks, and, altogether, it is sec- 
ond to no city of its size in regard to modern public im- 
provements. The climate is delightful in the winter sea- 
son. In the summer the days, as a rule, are warm, the 
mercury often reaching lOO degrees ; but the nights are 
cool, there being a difference of from 40 to 50 degrees 
in the temperature between daylight and dark. 

Los Angeles is situated 18 miles off the coast, the prin- 
cipal seaside resorts being Santa Monica and Long 
Beaches. It was the latter end of February I visited the 
former beach, when I saw a number of people bathing 
in the surf, lying on the beach, etc., the same as at Eastern 
beaches during July and August. 

A striking instance of the personification of laziness 
came under my observation at Santa Monica. A very 
large, fat man ambled onto the beach, accompanied by a 
dog, a chain fastened to its collar. The man wished 



14 

to take a sleep on the sand, but did not care to leave the 
dog at freedom. He looked about to see if he could find 
a place to keep the canine safely, but, finding none that 
suited him, simply secured the chain around his ankle 
and lay face downward. Other dogs came along, caus- 
ing the fat man's dog to jump and play; but it did not 
seem to disturb the sleeper, who slept soundly through it 
all. 

I made a visit to Pasadena while I was in Los Angeles, 
which is some six miles distant. This is one of the beauty 
spots of North America. Winter or summer, the lawns 
and gardens are green, with an exaggerated profusion 
of flowers. Wealthy people mostly comprise the popula- 
tion of this place. On the way to Pasadena I passed 
an ostrich farm. This is the place where ostriches driven 
to a sulky have been photographed, and it proves a great 
attraction to visitors. 

Also located just outside of Los Angeles is a "pigeon 
ranch." Thousands of pigeons are to be seen here. 
Through the grounds the Los Angeles River runs. At 
times the banks are alive with these birds. When fright- 
ened, as quick as a shot from a gun, they fly up, creating 
a terrific noise like great waves striking against massive 
rocks. This pigeon ranch furnishes the markets of Cali- 
fornia with squabs the year round. The proprietor is 
known as "White- Winged" Olsen, and has emassed 
quite a fortune from this novel industry. He started 
with but few birds, and they soon increased to thou- 
sands. 

A majority of the population of Los Angeles is com- 
posed of well-to-do residents, enticed there by the de- 
lightful climate. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
My stop-over having expired, I boarded a train for 
San Francisco, the New York of the Pacific. One unfa- 



IS 

miliar with the climatic features of this place would be 
greatly disappointed upon visiting this widely known 
city. An eastern person will wear the same clothing in 
June and July as in the winter season in the East. 
Winter or summer, it is an every-day sight to see men 
wearing overcoats and straw hats; equally as common 
to see two women walking together, one in a light waist 
and the other wearing a sealskin coat. Inquiry as to 
the oddity of the latter elicited the information that a 
great many of the native women wear chamois-skin un- 
derclothing. Few people who go out for an afternoon 
fail to take an overcoat or heaw wrap along, for they 
are sure to have need of them before sundown. In June 
and July while sitting in the sun watching a baseball 
game, it was absolutely necessary at times to wear an 
overcoat. The truck farmers just outside the city have 
hedges planted on their farms, about 30 feet apart to 
prevent the wind's sweep. Without this precaution the 
garden truck would not thrive. The cold winds are the 
unexpected and unpleasant feature of this city. 

There are two cities of our country in which parks 
are of little use at night for recreation purposes — San 
Francisco, it being too cool to sit in them, and Newark, 
N. J., owing to the numerous mosquitoes. 

Many places boast with pride of their great number of 
pretty women, but they have no foundation in fact com- 
pared to the fair-skinned women of San Francisco. It 
applies only to the native born and Eastern children 
brought there when very young. So pronounced is this 
feature that the ordinary looking women are in the mi- 
nority. No difference, however, can be noticed in the 
native male. 

New York is the only city that surpasses San Fran- 
cisco in public conveniences. It is now a city of perhaps 
400,000 inhabitants, and in the business section there are 
park squares and lavatories for both sexes; parks 



i6 

throughout the residential section, besides a number of 
public playgrounds, with athletic paraphernalia for boys 
and swings, etc., for girls, besides Golden Gate, the finest 
park, perhaps, in North America. 

This particular park is from three to four miles in 
length, and its western boundary is the Pacific Ocean. 
Its beautiful drives, flower beds, botanical buildings, mu- 
seum, shade trees, lakes, etc., are first-class. In the center 
of it is a high hill, used as a point of observation, from 
which a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean can be had 
as far out as the Farallone Islands, the bird rendezvous, 
30 miles distant. Located on this elevation also is a res- 
ervoir, built for the purpose of supplying water for cat- 
aract displays on the east side, which take place three 
times a week. The area embraced in Golden Gate Park 
was originally a sandy waste. 

On the coast end of the park and a little northward 
stands the Cliff House, a hotel, the foundation of which 
being the natural sea wall. 

Not more than 40 or 50 feet from the Cliff House, in 
the ocean, are located the Seal Rocks, which prove of 
great interest to any one who has never witnessed a sim- 
ilar sight. Hundreds of seals at times can be seen drag- 
ging themselves out of the water onto the rocks and 
floundering back again. These are not the fur-bearing 
seal, like the Alaska variety. When out of the water 
long enough for the fur to dry, the huge rocks on which 
they sun themselves resemble a mammoth buffalo robe. 

The aristocratic section of San Francisco is Knob Hill, 
the highest point in the city, affording a wide range of 
view eastward across the bay to Oakland, northward to 
Sausalito and Mount Tamalpais, and westward far out 
into the ocean. Handsome residences of the Floods, 
Fairs, Mackeys and other equally prominent families of 
the Pacific Coast are situated on Knob Hill. Owing to 
the steepness of the slope on southward, northward and 



17 

eastern sides, cable street cars are of necessity used 
entirely. 

Below, on the eastern side, is Chinatown, an eyesore 
to the city officials and citizens generally. An air of 
myster}^ pervades this locality. Its cellar-living quarters, 
its tunnel system, opium and gambling dens, together 
with their oath-bound societies, render it almost impos- 
sible for officers or any one not Mongolian to obtain in- 
formation of the murders and other crimes which take 
place in this quarter frequently, and it is a source of much 
concern to the people of San Francisco. The legislative 
bodies of the city have sought to put an end to this lo- 
cality by entering condemnation proceedings against the 
property, but the high rents received by the owners, with 
the lav/ of possession on their side, seems to prevent any 
and all efforts to wipe out Chinatown. The population 
of Chinatown was given as 20,000, and it comprises an 
area of several blocks. 

Passing along Kearny street one day, I noticed three 
Chinese women, bare headed, walking toward me, the one 
in the middle being supported by those on either side. 
This one proved to be a woman of rank, and it was owing 
to her small feet, distinctive of caste, that necessitated 
the aid of her companions to steady her. The shoes she 
wore did not exceed two and a half inches in length, and 
her weight was about 160 pounds. It is not often women 
of her social standing are seen in public. I have never 
seen a Chinese woman wear head covering of any kind. 

One Sunday evening I attended Salvation Army serv- 
ices in Chinatown. The Salvationist officers were two 
American women, who read the Scriptures, prayed and 
preached the sermon in English, which was interpreted 
to the congregation by a Chinaman. The hall was well 
filled, and close attention given to the interpretation. An 
attractive Chinese young woman presided at the organ, 
who sang in English, "J^sus, Lover of My Soul," 



i8 

"Nearer, My God to Thee," and other well-known church 
hymns. When the tambourine, used for collections, 
reached me, the smallest pieces of coin I noticed it con- 
tained were quarters, half dollars and dollars, the amount 
each Chinaman seemed to believe was his share towards 
helping the cause. 

From the number of Chinese laundries in cities off the 
Coast, people not familiar with conditions in San Fran- 
cisco might believe Chinese controlled the laundry busi- 
ness of that city ; but such is not the case. There are 
fewer Chinese laundries in San Francisco than any city 
of its size throughout the country. In this and other 
Coast cities a fine is imposed by labor unions upon mem- 
bers patronizing Mongolian laundries. 

The absence of negroes on the streets of San Francisco 
is a noticeable feature. One might be about town a day 
and fail to see a negro. Two reasons are given for their 
absence — the cold winds, and Chinese doing porter and 
similar work usually done by negroes in other cities. The 
social standing of Chinese in San Francisco is no higher 
than that of the negro of the South. Chinese children 
are not permitted to attend the public white schools, but 
must go to the Mongolian schools. The same ruling has 
recently been applied to Japanese of that city also. 

While making a trip by ferryboat from San Francisco 
to Oakland, seven miles across the bay, the number of 
seagulls flying on either side of the vessel attracted my at- 
tention. By keeping watch, one is very apt to see a gull 
shoot downward. This swoop is made to catch peanuts, 
fruit, etc., thrown to them by passengers, which they cap- 
ture most always before the tempting morsels reach the 
water. 

Outside of large business blocks, the houses and build- 
ings of San Francisco are mostly built of redwood. On 
most every house in the city can be seen from one to a 
dozen bay windows. San Francisco could appropriately 
be termed the Bay Window Cit}^ 



19 

I made a trip to and up Mount Tamalpais, not more 
than lo miles from the city, which is well worth one's 
time. This mountain is one of a long chain of which the 
coast range is comprised. Its top is reached by a grape- 
vine-like railroad. The distance from base to summit is 
eight miles. In one place the railroad is so snake-like that 
the in-and-out loops of its course represent a double bow 
knot. From the top of this mountain I got a splendid 
view of the Pacific Ocean and the city. 

The daily newspapers published in Pacific Coast cities 
are far more in advance of Eastern newspapers. Places 
there with a population of from 50,000 to 100,000 sup- 
port papers equal to those published in Eastern cities of 
300,000 population. Newspapers are good barometers, 
I have found by which the merits of a city can be judged. 

Something novel in the way of funerals came under 
my observation in this city ; it was a trolley car funeral. 
The casket was borne in a car built for the purpose, and 
the mourners and friends followed in ordinary street 
cars. Some of the cemeteries are located in far, outlying 
districts, where the usual mode of coach conveyance 
would prove almost a prohibitive expense to people in 
ordinary circumstances, and I understand the trolley com- 
panies in such instances make the charge reasonable. 

The highest buildings in San Francisco will never ex- 
ceed from ten to twelve stories, I was informed, owing 
to the frequent earthquake shocks that occur in the lower 
Pacific region. 

The city is well supplied with theaters, the department 
stores are Ai, business activity is noticeable at every turn, 
street traffic heavy, and, as a seaport city, and in general, 
San Francisco can justly claim to be the New York of the 
West. 

I remained in San Francisco about a month, where I 
earned enough money to carry out my plans so far, as I 
had calculated. I found plenty of work, with good 



20 

wages, and felt much encouraged. I made a start for 
the Puget Sound country, buying a ticket for Seattle, 
Wash. 

MOUNT SHASTA. 

About 250 miles northward from San Francisco by 
rail, at the time passengers are emerging from their 
berths, what seems like a large, white cloud appears to 
view, 100 miles ahead, which attracts but little attention. 
Looking out of the car window later, the cloud seems to 
be in the same place as when first noticed. And still 
further on the great, white cloud seems so unusually plain 
and near as to arouse curiosity. The question, "Is that 
a cloud?" will finally be asked of some one close by, and 
the reply will be "No ; that's Mount Shasta." The train 
stops for dinner at Dunsmuir, not far from this mountain. 
After going seven or eight miles, another stop is made 
immediately at the base. Then an ascent up its side, a 
cattle-path-like road, necessitating an extra engine, and 
often when a heavy train is drawn, it is necessary to split 
it and take it up in sections. Finally Sissons is reached, 
the summit of the grade, at the foot of Shasta at another 
side ; but all the while the great, white mountain is above 
us, before us, behind us, and apparently all about us. 
Northward we travel 100 miles, when the summit of the 
Siskiyou Mountains is reached, the juncture of the Sierra 
Nevada and Cascade ranges, and also the border line of 
California and Oregon. The valley below through which 
we passed an hour before is now enveloped in the shades 
of night. As we begin to descend the slope into Oregon, 
a look backward is rewarded with a final view of the 
noble, snow-white, dome-like top of Shasta. Its height is 
nearly 14,000 feet. 

A glance from the car window, as I descended the Sis- 
kiyous, revealed bridges over which we were about to 
pass, whose skeleton-like forms caused me to quickly 



21 

withdraw my gaze through fear of what might happen 
should they collapse. 

SEATTLE, WASH. 

Upon reaching Seattle I found a much larger city than 
that of ten years previous, it having more than doubled 
its population in that time. Any one who has been in 
Duluth, Minn., would find a marked similarity in the 
nature of the hillsides on which the two cities are built, 
the only difference being that the former is rock and the 
latter soil. The hillsides in both instances are very steep. 
No one familiar with the nature of the Puget Sound coun- 
try would be surprised on reading an account, any day 
in the rainy season, of Seattle having slid into the waters 
of the Sound. Landslides are common during the rainy 
season in that section of the country. This season begins 
about November and continues until the middle of April 
or the 1st of May, thus saturating the ground to a thin- 
mud wetness. An excavation was under way for the 
basement of a newspaper building while I was there. The 
front of the building was to face one of the principal 
streets, on which is a street car line. Notwithstanding 
it was lagged and shored three times more than is nec- 
essary in most cities for a like purpose, the land above it 
slid, making an opening a foot wide in the asphalted 
street between the rails of the car track. 

The month of February of a recent year produced but 
two rainy days. A throat affection broke out in the city, 
the doctors accounting for it by the dry weather at that 
time of year. The people prayed for rain, their prayers 
having been answered, when the epidemic ceased. Dur- 
ing the summer season, however, there can be enjoyed no 
more delightful climate in North America. It rarely ever 
rains, and the thermometer seldom registers higher than 
85 degrees. 

Seattle's population became greatly reduced in the 



22 

middle '90's, I was informed, half of the buildings in 
both the residential and business sections having been de- 
serted. Since the Alaska gold boom, however, it has 
made up for the temporary lapse. 

The people of Seattle are the most pronounced local 
patriots in the entire country. Each resident, like a So- 
cialist, acts and works as a specially appointed committee 
of one to boost his city (one dare not call it a town in 
their presence). Its seaport advantages, being 30 miles 
nearer Juan de Fuca Straits than Tacoma, with no place 
of importance northward to interfere, secures for it the 
mercantile leverage of the Northwest. Considerable lum- 
ber and coal is shipped from here, and a large amount 
of the grain grown in eastern Washington and Idaho 
is brought by rail to Seattle and reloaded into vessels for 
shipment to Australian and Oriental ports. Besides this, 
it has very progressive business men, its greatest asset, 
who minimize nothing that claims even remote kinship to 
Seattle. 

In order to secure the contract for building a vessel for 
the Government by a local firm, and to prevent other com- 
petitors from underbidding, the citizens guaranteed $100,- 
000 if the contract were awarded to it. This offered 
bonus enabled the local bidder to secure the contract. In- 
stances of inducements of this nature to bring business 
to the city are numerous. 

Mount Ranier, over 14,000 feet high, snow covered 
the year round, is located 60 miles southeast from Seattle, 
and can be seen plainly any bright moonlight night from 
this point. 

Seagulls are so numerous at this port that, at times 
when flying, they obscure the sun. 

A boat ride 12 miles westward from Seattle, around 
small islands, across small bays, and in and through 
watery crannies brought me to Bremerton, where a 
Government drydock is built, large enough to admit of 



23 

any of Uncle Sam's sea fighters. Up the Sound to Port 
Townsend, 30 miles northward, on either side can be seen 
large guns poking their noses toward the water. These 
forts have been erected within the last seven or eight 
years, and more are under course of construction. 

I spent a month in Seattle, working most of the time, 
and just before leaving, I took a sail up to Victoria, B. C. 

VICTORIA, B, C, 

The banks or bluffs on the British side of Juan de 
Fuca Straits, whereon is located Victoria, bears a marked 
similarity to those at Newport, R. L, over which one 
passes when traversing the Cliff Walk. The straits at 
this point are 15 miles wide, and Port Angeles, Wash., 
opposite, is Victoria's nearest American neighbor. This 
provincial capital is beautifully situated on the southerly 
end of Vancouver Island. The weather in the summer 
season is delightful, but has its rainy season like the 
rest of the Northwest country. Victoria has a population 
of some 10,000 inhabitants, mostly Englishmen in good 
circumstances. The thrift and energy that is so marked 
in the American places in the Pacific Northwest is ab- 
sent here, every one seeming to take life easy. 

At Esquimalt, three miles from Victoria, is located 
England's naval headquarters on the Pacific. A drydock 
large enough to admit of her war vessels is to be found 
here. This is built in a narrow bay, and between it and 
Juan de Fuca Straits is a narrow strip of land. The forts 
are built on this strip of land, which commands the straits 
for a considerable distance westward. No one is per- 
mitted to visit these forts. There seemed to be an air of 
secrecy on all sides that made me feel uneasy. 

PORTLAND, ORE. 

After a two day^' visit to Victoria, I now decided to 
return to San Francisco, but stopped off a day at Port- 



24 

land, which is reputed to be one of the most solid finan- 
cial cities of the West. This city is situated in the Wil- 
lamette valley, a short distance southward being a rich 
farming country. In no other city have I found the 
public streets in such a wretched condition. Holes of from 
three inches to a foot in the once-asphalted pavement 
could be seen at every turn. The streets were in such a 
bad state, in fact, that a horse attached to a vehicle could 
not be driven faster than a walk, lest the occupants would 
be jolted from their seats to the ground. A very fine 
view of Mount Hood, about 80 miles to the eastward, 
can be had from this city. 

EUREKA, CAL* 

I continued on from Portland to San Francisco, where 
I remained but a few days. I was informed an operator 
was wanted at Eureka, about 228 miles up the coast. I 
left on the next boat for this place, where I arrived 48 
hours later, sick from the time I had crossed Golden Gate 
bar until I went ashore at my destination. The boat seemed 
to be most of the time on end. It was a frightful expe- 
rience. I worked one night, when it became known a 
mistake had been made by the proprietor as to the par- 
ticular kind of work I was to do, I received $25, how- 
ever, which included my fare both ways, hotel expenses, 
and allowed me $5 for my night's work. When I again 
reached San Francisco, I became known as a "high-priced 
man," receiving $25 for one night's work. 

Eureka is situated on Humbolt Bay, and also in the 
heart of the redwood section of California, and has a 
population of some 10,000 inhabitants. There is no rail- 
road entering this place from the outside world, boat and 
stage being the means of travel. Lumber is Eureka's 
chief and only industry, there being numerous large saw- 
mills situated along the bay. Day and night forces are 
employed in these mills nearly the year round. 



25 

When making this trip from San Francisco, Point 
Reyes, the windiest place in North America, is passed. 
Passing vessels attract to the surface the heads and 
sometimes the great forms of whales in this part of the 
Pacific Ocean. 

The cold winds that prevail in San Francisco are en- 
countered at Eureka, and here again can be noticed the 
pink skin of the native women and girls. 

YOSEMITE VALLEY, 

After again returning to San Francisco, finding all the 
work I could do, with good wages, I had more than 
made expenses, besides a little sum to spare, which I felt 
sure I could use to good satisfaction in a ten-day trip to 
Yosemite Valley, as the excursion rate was quite reason- 
able, all things considered. 

The distance from San Francisco to Yosemite is 266 
miles, 198 by rail to Raymond, and 68 by stage. The best 
time of year to visit Yosemite is from the latter end of 
May to the middle of June. A trip before this time will 
find a number of trails blocked with snowdrifts. Later 
than the middle of June will find the various falls much 
reduced, the snow having melted off the mountains. Rib- 
bon, or Virgin Tear Falls, with a descent of 3,300 feet, 
is a rare treat to see early in the season, while later, the 
snow melting each day, finds nothing but a small stream 
trickling down the mountain walls. 

With the exception of one stage (the mail), two days' 
time is consumed before the Valley is reached. The first 
day's ride is finished at Wawona, 42 miles from Raymond. 
I started the next morning for the Valley, 26 miles fur- 
ther, reaching there at i o'clock P. M. The conveyances 
are Concord stages, four-seated, three people to a seat, 
drawn by four horses, there being seven relays during 
the trip. From Raymond to Ahwahnee the road is oiled 
to settle the dust, but its usefulness is noticeable only in 



26 

spots. On the whole, the stage trip is a hard and dusty 
one, travelers, after an hour's riding, resembling Indian 
mounds more than human beings. 

The first view of the grandeur of the Valley is had 
about seven miles westward from the village. Waterfalls 
behind and before, from 600 to 3,000 feet ; mountains and 
peaks nearly a mile in height ; a green, shrub-grown val- 
ley below us, through which flows the swiftly running 
Merced River, its waters of a glassy clearness, and be- 
yond, to a narrow opening at the extreme eastward end, 
the eyes rest on two globe-like peaks. North and South 
Domes, a mile above the floor of the valley. 

I had reached Inspiration Point, and no one, it is safe 
to say, has ever been prepared for the magnificence of the 
scenery on which the eye feasts. Fatigue and dust are for- 
gotten; cares and worry are as if buried. The scene 
before us seemed supernatural. The mortal is in statu 
quo, as it were; the soul on an outing, reveling in ecsta- 
cies contained in realms supra-mundane. Heights from 
which the grandeur of the valley are seen so charm people 
that iron railings are securely placed upon the edge of 
the precipices to prevent them from stepping uncon- 
sciously over; space at intervals terraced with rainbows, 
mirrored waters, steepled mountainsides, and diamond- 
like water falls, is but a vague idea of the magnificence of 
the scenery contained in Yosemite Valley. Nature alone 
is the author and finisher of its handiwork, for even a 
description of its magnificence is beyond the power of 
man to portray. It must be seen to be understood and 
appreciated. 

The two chief mountain features are El Capitan and 
Half Dome, the former at the western end of the valley 
and the latter at the eastern. "El Capitan is in some 
senses the more impressive of the two, the bald, square 
continuous front of solid granite mounting up at a single 
bound over two-thirds of a mile, marks this great buttress 



27 

as the only one of its kind in the world. Trees on its 
summit look like shrubs, and heav>^-winged fowl soaring 
past its upper walls look like motes in the sunbeams." 
Its height is 3,330 feet above the valley, and "should 
some convulsion of nature throw it over upon its face, 
it would require 160 acres for its bed." The acme of 
God's masonry is pronouncedly attested in the impres- 
sive, finished state of El Capitan. 

Cathedral Rocks, or Three Graces, as they are some- 
times called, 2,660 feet, are on the southern side of the 
valley from El Capitan, and dov/n the western side of 
the former flows Bridal Veil Falls. 

Bridal Veil is the second water fall reached when en- 
tering the valley, Cascades being to the extreme west. 
Its perpendicular descent is 600 feet, and its total, to the 
level, 900 feet, its width being about 30 feet at the top. 
It is Bridal Veil over which the artists rave — to whom 
it is ethereal. The breeze that generally blows here 
catches the stream below the brink and sways it to and 
fro, forming long, sweping, graceful motions, giving it 
a gauze-like, velvety, downy appearance. From 4 to 5 
o'clock in the afternoon is when the sun is reflected in 
the mist and spray, when at the foot of the falls and for 
some distance above can be seen more than one red, 
white, green and blue archway — space terraced with 
rainbows, in fact. 

Beyond the Three Graces are Cathedral Spires, "which 
are marvelously beautiful, and strikingly suggestive of 
the solemn offices to which they have been dedicated. 
They rise to a height of 2,678 and 2,585 feet, respectively, 
their distinctive columnar form being about 700 feet. 

On the north side of the valley above El Capitan are 
the Three Brothers mountain, so named, it is said by the 
capture of three Indians, who proved to be brothers, the 
highest point of which is nearly 4,000 feet, and is called 
Eagle Peak. Previous to the peaks having been named 



28 

Three Brothers, the Indians called them Frog Mountain, 
owing to several large rocks resembling that amphibian, 
in some instances very pronounced. It was from here 
1 received the best view of the valley. From this, as 
well as other high points, the grassy bottom of the Merced 
River, nearly 5,000 feet below, is almost as plainly seen 
as when standing upon the river's brink. 

Sentinel Peak was next in order as I wended my way 
to the village. This is an obelisk-like, slender mass of 
granite over 3,000 feet high, and it is sometimes called 
the watch tower of the valley. Its front is perpendic- 
ular for over 1,500 feet below its top. 

We are now nearing the village, and in plain view of 
Yosemite Falls, the greatest of them all. The upper falls 
have a perpendicular descent of 1,600 feet; the middle, 
of cataract nature, 600, and the lower falls, perpendic- 
ular, 400, making a total of 2,600 feet. The width of 
the stream where it takes its downward leap is about 
40 feet wide and quite deep. There are several falls earlier 
in the season which have a greater perpendicular descent 
than Yosemite, but the streams are small and are not to 
be seen after the heavier snow has been melted. 

The water of Yosemite Falls, in its swift plunge 
downward, has the appearance of rockets. The roar of 
the water at the foot of the upper falls resembles the 
deep, rumbling sound of thunder. That sound is con- 
stant. At night the descending water appears like a 
great white robe stretching down the mountainside. Yo- 
semite Camp is located half a mile distant, and frequently 
in the morning the tents would be damp with spray. 

A trip to the apex of the upper falls, although a dread- 
ful trail must be traveled to reach it, is well repaid by 
the unusual view to be had. Immediately at the top is a 
small ledge or shelf of rock, around which is a stout iron 
railing in front and to the left. One's safety is fraught 
with peril to reach this ledge, particularly if the soles 



29 

of the shoes are not provided with nails to prevent slip- 
ping on the rocks, over which most tourists are forced 
to resort to hand-and-knee method, and backward and 
sideways beside. This trail, I dare say, would arouse 
hesitancy in a mountain goat. The area of the ledge will 
not accommodate more than three or four persons at a 
time. 

A few feet to the left, the water is taking its awful 
plunge, striking on boulders held with a vice-like grip in 
the mountain, "forming diamond columns or bejeweled 
fountains. Sublime and majestic in its awful grandeur 
it appears. From the dizzying height, shudderingly one 
draws back from the scene, which seems to take hold 
with the terrible fascination of its power. One leaves 
the scene speechless." 

The mountain features are now all in view — Sentinel 
Dome, Glacier Point, Cloud's Rest, Half Dome and North 
Domes, ranging in height from 3,500 to 6,000 feet above 
the floor of the valley, which is 4,000 feet above sea level. 
Among these. Half Dome, or South Dome, is the one on 
which the tourist's attention is more particularly centered. 
Across from it is North Dome, a deep gorge separating 
them; but it is in no way part of Half Dome, as the 
former is round and the latter cut evenly through the 
center ; but there is no evidence of the other half, if there 
ever was one. On the front side its face is perpendicular 
for about 2,000 feet below its summit, its full height being 
5,000 feet. 

Years ago there was a rope ladder on the northeast 
side, built by one G. G. Anderson, by drilling holes into 
the rock, driving wooden pins into these, to which iron 
eyes were fastened, standing on the highest pin while drill- 
ing for the next one, and so on to the top. Many visitors 
made the ascent, clinging to the latter for a distance of 
nearly 1,000 feet. Since the rope ladder rotted away, 
several attempts have been made to rebuild it; but An- 



30 

derson is no more, and the commissioners do not care to 
encourage visitors to take such perilous trips. 

Three miles eastward from the village is Mirror Lake, 
on which Half Dome fronts. Casually looking at this 
small body of water, one notices nothing about it different 
from other ponds. But, when looking directly into it, a 
person's features appear as clearly as if seen in a looking 
glass. Any morning between 6 130 and 7 130 during Yo- 
semite season, one can see tourists in carriages, on horse- 
back, and others walking to Mirror Lake. Between 7 130 
and 7:45 the sun peeps through a sag formed by two 
points of rock on the eastern side of Half Dome, and 
first makes its appearance on the western end of the lake. 
Everyone will be closely looking into the water, when, as 
the sun first peeps through the trees growing in this sag, 
what seems like a brilliant ball-like light appears. As one 
point of the rock that forms this hollow is in the same 
direction as the course of the sun at this time of day, it 
requiring 12 to 15 minutes' time to clear that point, by 
slowly walking to the eastern end of the lake, one can 
witness an uninterrupted sunrise for that period. Pic- 
tures of visitors are taken as they appear in the water, 
which are as clear as if photographed in a studio. 

When going to Glacier Point, the long way, Happy Isle 
is passed, a strip of land around which two forks of the 
Merced River flows. This is a beautiful place, and fre- 
quented much by women and children. 

Further along we reach Register Rock, on which are 
cut and written names and dates as far back as 1853, two 
years after the valley was discovered. Here is where the 
horse and foot trails separate, the latter being two miles 
nearer to Vernal Falls. Between Register Rock and 
Vernal Falls is Lady Franklin Rock. 

The woman after whom this rock was named was Eng- 
lish; her husband, the explorer, having perished in the 
Arctic seas. It is said of her that, while visiting the Val- 



31 

ley, in 1859, she was taken sick ; but so bent was she on 
seeing Vernal Falls that her request to be carried there 
was complied with, and from this point she feasted her 
eyes on the sparkling, diamond-like waters, three-quar- 
ters of a mile eastward. 

Going over the foot trail to the top of Vernal Falls, 
I encountered an exciting experience. I picked my way 
carefully on this trail alongside the cataracts, where a 
slip of the foot would mean probable death. In one place 
a short ladder of five rungs is used, there not being room 
to get along otherwise. Before this short ladder is 
reached, however, the spray from the falls is being felt, 
and further on it increased until it seemed as if I was in 
the course of a waterspout. Finally, the base of the falls, 
350 feet high, was reached, where steps are provided to 
walk on and railings to hold on to until the top. Here a 
stop of considerable time is generally made for the clothes 
to dry, for no one can travel over this trail and escape a 
drenching to the skin. 

Between Vernal and Nevada Falls, a mile distant, is 
Silver Apron, a dome-like rock, over which the water 
runs at the terrific speed of 60 miles an hour. The water 
naturally is shallow, and the speed will not permit a pebble 
or grain of sand to rest upon the bottom. 

A short distance above Silver Apron the foot and horse 
trails come together, and then I started for the top of 
Nevada Falls, the wildest of all those found in Yosemite 
Valley, their height being 605 feet. It is some distance 
from the foot to the top of the falls by trail, also very 
steep and zigzag all the way, some turns being as short 
as ten feet. Here also iron railings are securely placed 
at the top of the falls in order that the visitor may obtain 
a good view of them. 

Lunch is eaten here, for it is a day's travel from the 
village to Glacier Point, and Nevada Falls is about half 
way. Between Nevada Falls and Glacier Point a stream 



32 

of water dashing over a high ledge of rock, forming a 
waterfall in keeping with the scenery of the valley is 
crossed. This is Illilouette Falls, 500 feet, hid in a canyon 
by itself, surrounded by a forest. 

The widest range of view to be had in the Valley is 
from Glacier Point. Several miles eastward a splendid 
view of Vernal and Nevada Falls, a wide sweep of the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains, the floor of the valley, peaks, 
etc., are obtained. Here is located Hanging Rock, of 
which at some time, perhaps, the reader has seen a picture 
of a man standing on his head, or a woman in the act 
of dancing. It is not over ten feet long nor six feet wide, 
with apparently no support. For this reason Government 
engineers have condemned it ; but there it is still. A slip 
of the foot, a jostle, or any unsteadiness is apt to start 
one to the floor of the valley, 3,500 feet below. There is 
not a ledge of rock, a tree, a twig, or even a blade of 
grass between Hanging Rock and the floor of the valley. 
Close by the commissioners have provided iron railings ; 
but the majority of people, after the first look, leave the 
place with glaring eyes and shuddering with fear of the 
terrible fate awaiting them should anything occur that 
would start them downward. 

It is interesting to see a hundred or more men, 
women and children preparing to make this trip from 
the valley. Between 6 and 7 o'clock in the morning, all 
meet at a certain place, where the trail animals are being 
made ready for the day's trip. I noticed that women and 
children were placed on the mules as much as possible, 
because of this animal's sure footedness, the men having 
horses assigned to them. 

An acquaintance from San Francisco and myself were 
the first to travel over Dewey Trail in 1903, the distance 
being 26 miles. 

The grandeur I beheld in this matchless scenic gem 
quickened my energies to continue my trip as I had laid 



33 

it out, and I felt repaid a hundredfold for the daily econ- 
omy I had practiced so far. 

BIG TREES. 

I left Yosemite Valley at i o'clock P. M., and reached 
Wawona at 7 the same evening. From here I started 
the next morning for Mariposa Big Tree Grove, eight 
miles distant. Like most people unacquainted, I believed 
the big trees to grow in Yosemite Valley, but, instead, 
they are located 34 miles distant. 

The day was spent in going to, among, and coming 
from the trees. Mariposa Grove was discovered in 1857 
by Galen Clark, for years guardian of Yosemite Valley, 
who is still alive, and divides his time between the grove 
and the valley, with which his life has for so many years 
been associated. There are two groves, upper and lower, 
a mile's distance dividing them. The area in which they 
grow is four miles square. Both Yosemite Valley and 
Mariposa Big Tree Grove are included in Yosemite Na- 
tional Park, and both were ceded to the State of Califor- 
nia at the same time and in the same act of Congress. 
A guardian, appointed by the State, oversees both the 
Valley and Grove. 

In the two groves 621 individual trees grow. The first 
of the larger trees reached is the "Fallen Monarch," on 
which a company of cavalry were photographed. The 
next great tree is the ''Grizzly Giant," 104 feet in circum- 
ference and 224 feet in height. During the drive through 
the grove the stage passed through two of the largest — 
''California" and "Wawona" — the former 21 feet in di- 
ameter and 284 feet in height, and the latter, the largest 
tree in the grove, 28 feet in diameter and 260 feet in 
height. The conveyances used in the grove trip are not 
small vehicles, but four-horse, four-seated Concord stages, 
with a shade covering over them. There is another tree, 
the "Haver ford," in which horses can be ridden and 
turned around. 



34 

Most of the large trees have suffered from forest 
fires, which have burned out the inside ; but the roots are 
so large and so deeply imbedded as to furnish them nour- 
ishment the same as for 5,000 years. The inside of the 
trees is of a soft nature, sometimes used for pincushions. 
The cones from those trees are the size and shape of a 
hen's eggs, while those of the ordinary pine tree found on 
the mountains in this section are from 12 to 18 inches 
long. 

Most of the important trees have been christened with 
the names of Lincoln, Washington, William McKinley, 
Lafayette, Longfellow, and other prominent men, famous 
in military, naval, literary and other fields ; and others 
bear the names of cities. States, colleges, etc. Believe 
anything that might be told of the trees in Mariposa 
Grove, as pictures only minimize their greatness. Se- 
quoia is the name of the wood of these great trees, which 
looks like cedar, and is much softer than redwood. 

After satisfying myself that I was now familiar with 
the points of interest contained in two of the great fea- 
tures which I had always yearned to see, I naturally 
turned to action in the work line. So I took a stage at 
Wawona for Raymond, where I boarded a train for San 
Francisco, arriving there on June 15th. 

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

I found work still good in San Francisco, and remained 
two weeks; the last week of June found me traveling 
over the Sierras for Salt Lake City. About eight hours' 
ride eastward, the summit, or divide, of the Sierra Ne- 
vada Mountains was reached. For a distance of 45 miles 
down the eastern slope the track is enclosed with an al- 
most continuous shed — snow shed — which shuts out from 
view some fine scenery. Heavy snows fall during the 
winter season, which, before the sheds were built, delayed 
the trains at times for weeks. Truckee is a supper station, 



35 

and, reaching the Nevada line about 30 miles eastward, 24 
hours' time was consumed in riding before Salt Lake was 
reached, 20 hours of which was through the barren plains 
of Nevada. 

Reaching Salt Lake, evidence of the practical master 
mind of Brigham Young is to be observed. The city, dur- 
ing Young's time, was surveyed and laid out, comprising 
an area of four miles square. It is situated in the Jordan 
Valley, to the southward and to the east, the Wasatch 
range of mountains, on the highest point of which snow 
can be seen at any season of year. 

The pure water here is rarely, if ever, found in 
other cities. The city is well supplied with public drink- 
ing fountains and cups to drink from. The water comes 
from the mountains, and flows through a deep canyon, 
and the cleanliness of the banks, stream and surround- 
ings is not often found elsewhere. Darting hither and 
thither in the stream can be seen numerous speckled 
trout. 

The sanitary plan of the city is somewhat different than 
that found elsewhere. Down the curbs and gutters of 
each street at some time of day for a certain period, water 
is forced. On the business streets it is constant, except, 
when the water is very low. City laborers are at work 
all the while removing debris where it might block the 
course of the water in the gutters. In the summer season, 
dogs can be seen lying in, and drinking from, these cool 
and refreshing street streams, and horses also, pawing 
the water with their fore feet for the purpose of cooling 
their hind legs and under part of body. 

Each city block contains 10 acres of land, six blocks, 
including street crossings, making a mile. The streets run 
due east, west, north and south, the Temple marking the 
place from which the house numbers start in either di- 
rection. They are the widest streets in any city of our 
country. 



36 

Little or no rain falls during the summer season, the 
water for the farm land coming from rivers through 
irrigation ditches. A city ordinance requires the sprink- 
ling of the yards and lawns of each householder between 
the hours of 4 and 8 o'clock in the afternoon. 

Most travelers going to, or coming from, the Coast 
fail to stop at the Mormon City, as a few interesting days 
can be spent within its gates. The Temple is an imposing 
structure, resembling in outward appearance St. Patrick's 
Cathedra] in New York City. Like most everything else 
with which Brigham Young had to do in this respect, the 
Temple is strongly built, its walls being six feet thick. It 
required 40 years to complete this structure, the stone 
used in the building having been carried from the moun- 
tain, some distance away. The Temple is the hall of rec- 
ords, the holy of holies of the Mormon Church. Services 
are held in this building only on occasions when high 
church functions take place. A Gentile is not permitted 
to see more than the outward walls. 

The Tabernacle is situated directly in the rear of the 
Temple, in the same square. This is the Mormons' place 
of public worship, and it is open to visitors every day. 
Music recitals take place twice or three times a week, 
free to all. In size, the organ in this building is said to 
be second to but few, if any, in the world. The choir 
consists of 500 members. The building is several hun- 
dred feet long, and about a hundred wide. The roof is 
arched from one end to the other, with not a semblance 
of a center support. The sides are practically all doors, 
rendering it almost impossible, in case of fire, for a sac- 
rifice of life to occur. In the summer season, during 
services, most all of the doors are thrown open, prevent- 
ing any inconvenience from heat to worshipers. It is 
said the Tabernacle will seat from 9,000 to 10,000 people, 
there being a large gallery of seats besides the ground 
floor seating capacity. 



37 

I provided myself with change, as usual, for contri- 
bution; but a surprise is always in store for the visitor, 
as no collection is taken at their church services. 

The manner in which the church is supported is by 
tithe, which applies to hay, wood, money, or any other 
commodity of the business pursuit or occupation in which 
the member might be engaged. 

A white outline at the base of the mountain range is 
plainly visible, where once was the shore of the lake, the 
land on which the city is built at that time having been 
90 feet under water. The edge of the water of the lake 
at the present time is 16 miles from the city, and the water 
is receding yearly. While bathing in this briny body of 
water, one can lie on their back with almost the same 
degree of safety as when lying in a bed. This is owing 
to its buoyant nature. Very few, however, can dive in 
the salt water, as it gets in the nostrils, and puts the 
diver generally in a bad way. A large pavilion, owned 
by Mormons, is built on the shore of the lake, and the 
place is called Saltair. 

The people seem very peaceable, industrious, thrifty 
and tidy. To the ordinary person visiting or remaining 
in the city for a short time, information of the domestic 
customs of the Mormons is as difficult to obtain as are 
four-leaf clovers to be found. 

The church owns a large store, at which Mormons 
do most of their trading. Scrip, issued by the church, 
is used as currency, and is at par for trading purposes 
at this store. They help each other and look after their 
own, consequently there are very few cases of destitu- 
tion or suffering in sickness through lack of attention. 

Negroes do not frequent restaurants here like in most 
Northern and Western cities. I mentioned their absence 
to a restaurateur. He then related a decision that had 
been handed down by Utah judges on this matter that has 
not, perhaps, been rendered in any other State. A negro 



38 

was informed by a restaurateur that his patronage was 
not desired. The negro brought suit for damages against 
him. In a lower court the judge ruled in favor of the 
restaurateur, from which an appeal was taken. The 
decision of the lower court was sustained by the higher 
branch. It seems that part of the United States Consti- 
tution according equal privileges to all men in this re- 
spect, uses the word "inn/' and in the decision the line 
was drawn between the meaning of an inn and a restau- 
rant. 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 

Salt Lake was the place from which my itinerary 
called for a start to Yellowstone National Park. I had 
now been three weeks in the Mormon City, at which 
place I worked, and left there with money enough to 
defray the expenses of a trip through Yellowstone. This 
is both a long and expensive journey, the distance from 
Salt Lake City to, through and return being 884 miles, 
about half of the journey by stage. Every time feet were 
placed under linen, whether bed or table, a dollar was 
charged — $4 a day for hotel expenses alone. 

There are two ways in which to enter Yellowstone — 
by Monida on the west, and Gardiner on the north. I 
started from Salt Lake at 9 130 A. M. and reached Monida 
about the same hour in the evening. 

Twelve or fifteen miles northward from Pocatello, Ida., 
there is located a Government fort, from which rations 
are dispensed to the Indians of the reservation. As a 
United States law permits of an Indian boarding either 
freight or passenger trains and riding free, the platform 
of the cars of our train were crowded with red men, going 
to the fort for their easy keep. 

Night was spent in Monida. Early in the morning 
tourists are busy making ready for their first day's stage 
ride in the direction of the park. Unlike the road to 



39 

Yosemite Valley, this one is level, extending along the 
crest of the continental divide. Lunch was taken at i 
o'clock; later we passed around Henry Lake, the source 
of Snake River, and just as darkness had settled over 
the earth, Dwelle, not far from the park, was reached. 
Here a stop was made for the night, having traveled 75 
miles. From the time one steps off the train at Monida 
until they return, the air breathed is at an altitude of from 
7,000 to 8,000 feet. The best distant mountain view I 
have ever looked upon can be seen when nearing Dwelle, 
and later while passing through the park. This view is 
the Teton Mountains, 14,000 feet in height, 75 miles 
southward, and located on the border of the Idaho and 
Wyoming State line. Three peaks point heavenward, 
and are white with snow, like all the high mountains in 
the Western country. They appeared to me like church 
steeples, covered with snow, seen from a distance of three 
or four city blocks on a moonlight night. 

In tidily kept log buildings the night at Dwelle was 
passed. In the morning a start was m.ade for Fountain 
Hotel, situated on the edge of Lower Geyser Basin, and 
20 miles from Dwelle, which was reached about noon 
time. This basin contains 17 geysers and hundreds of hot 
springs. Fountain geyser is the one nearest the hotel, 
which "plays" at intervals of from two to four hours, 
continuing with great force from 10 to 15 minutes. The 
water does not reach a height of m.ore than 15 to 20 feet, 
but the volume is great, the crater being 30 feet in di- 
ameter. 

A short distance from Fountain geyser is located Mam- 
moth Paint Pots. This mud cauldron has a basin which 
measures 40x60 feet, with a mud rim on three sides, 
which are from four to five feet in height. In this basin 
a mass of fine, whitish substance can be seen, which is 
in a constant state of agitation. It resembles some great 
boiling pot of paint or bed of mortar. There is a con- 



40 

tinuous bubbling up of the mud, producing sounds like 
"plop-plop," and it rises in cones, rings and jets. On the 
north side of this mud basin is another bed of pink and 
red substance, over which are scattered 30 to 40 mud 
cones, averaging from two to three feet in height. It 
was said the material used in frescoing the Fountain 
Hotel was taken from the "pot" producing the pink 
quality. 

Great Fountain is the most prominent geyser in Lower 
Basin, and is two miles from the hotel. Eruptions occur 
about every 10 to 12 hours, and remain in action fully 
30 minutes. The diameter of the hole of this geyser is 
10 feet, and, after the water has risen to a height of from 
five to six feet, sometimes it recedes until it seems as 
if the bottom had fallen completely out, when, suddenly, 
it will shoot upward fully 80 feet. 

One spring, Firehole, attracted more attention than the 
others. At what seems to be a distance of from 15 to 20 
feet down, there can be seen a blue-blaze torch, appar- 
ently as long and round as a man's arm. Another spring 
close by, when sand is thrown into it, makes a noise and 
sizzles like salt when thrown onto a hot stove. 

Ten miles further brought us to Upper Geyser Basin, 
the largest of the several basins located in Yellowstone, 
and containing 26 geysers and upwards of 400 hot 
springs. The names of those geysers whose waters rise 
to a height of 100 feet and more are Giant, 250; Bee 
Hive, 200; Splendid, 200; Giantess, 150; Riverside, 100; 
Grand, 200; Surprise, 100; Cliff, 100, and Old Faithful, 
150 feet, the most popular geyser of them all. These 
perform at intervals of from an hour to 25 days. 

Old Faithful, located not far from the hotel and tents, 
"plays" every 63 minutes, with rarely a variation of five 
minutes, day and night, summer and winter, and in sun- 
shine and rain. Its crater is an oblong opening, 4x8 feet. 
Its eruptions begin with a few spasmodic spurts, and 



41 

these are followed every five to eight minutes by a col- 
umn of hot water two feet in diameter, which is pro- 
jected upward to a height of from 125 to 150 feet. It 
then remains apparently stationary for about three min- 
utes, and gradually recedes until the water in the crater is 
as undisturbed as water in a pail. Geysers in this basin, 
such as Grotto, Cascade and others, whose waters do not 
rise more than from 10 to 30 feet, are pleasing to look 
upon when in action, owing to the great volume of water 
emitted. 

The Upper and Lower Basins are practically one, being 
about 12 miles long and several miles wide. The color- 
ing about some of the geysers and springs is very pretty, 
representing all the shades contained in the color list. 
It is a sort of mineral vegetable growth, soft, like moss, 
in some instances, and hard as stone in others. To pre- 
vent the demolition of this natural painting, soldiers ac- 
company each party of visitors, as there are several mil- 
itary stations located in different sections of the park. 

In charge of the hotel at Upper Basin was an Irishman, 
known to me even before I met him, as "Larry." A full 
day's stop is made here, and among the number of tour- 
ists making the rounds of the park at that time was a 
party of German Lutherans, headed by their bishop. Din- 
ner was the first meal we ate at Larry's. The bishop was 
a little late in reaching the dining-room, and, with the 
exception of a vacant seat at the table at which he was to 
sit, the room was filled. He was a man of striking ap- 
pearance, being about 6 feet 3 inches in height, and 
weighed 250 pounds. His gray whiskers, together with 
the cloth of his profession, left no doubt as to his calling. 
He appeared in the doorway, paused a moment, and then 
proceeded toward the table at which he was to sit. Just 
as he had reached the center of the room, Larry, our irre-. 
pressible host, blurted out : ''Look out for the silverware ; 
here comes the bishop!" 



42 

It just happened at this time that ex-Governor Odell, 
of New York, and party were going through Yellow- 
stone. At a later meal, when the Governor entered the 
dining-room, Larry cautioned the attendants of his pres- 
ence in the same loud manner, the difference being "Look 
out for the napkins ; here comes the Governor !" 

Larry had built a platform, and after chores were all 
done, the waitresses, teamsters, and, in fact, some of the 
tourists, gathered for a regular old hoe-down, the or- 
chestra being a fiddle, jewsharp, a much abused banjo, 
and a mouth organ, Larry appearing in the role of an- 
nouncer. Some of the visitors from the large cities had 
not heard this kind of music nor enjoyed the privilege of 
engaging in a shindig of this sort in years, and all seemed 
to greatly enjoy it. 

For sleeping quarters at this place, tents were used, a 
piece of cloth serving as a partition between the "rooms." 
A lady and gentleman occupied the "room" next to me. 
The wife weighed fully 250 pounds, and the husband 
100 to 125 pounds less. I was awakened early in the 
morning by their talking, which was of the nature of a 
mild family jangle, the wife accusing the husband of 
having occupied seven-eighths of the bed during the 
night, and he endeavoring in a kind, husbandly manner 
to establish an alibi. Putting two and two together, I 
gathered the wife had slept in the bed. I have never been 
successful in reaching a satisfactory solution of how the 
husband could have absorbed seven-eighths of the bed, 
in view of the wife not having slept on the floor. Too 
deep for me. 

The third day's staging was begun quite early, as a 
ride of over 40 miles was to be taken. Lunch was eaten 
at Thumb Bay, on Yellowstone Lake. Here are found 
small geysers, and more paint pots, the latter like those 
in Lower Basin. Fish Cone, a small geyser, or spring, 
is located here, right on the edge of the lake, against 



43 

which the waves dash and recede. The Government has 
the lake thickly stocked with fish, and from most any 
place along the shore they can be caught with hook and 
line, and, after caught, can be dipped into the water of 
Fish Cone and cooked, without taking the fish off the 
hook. 

A small steamboat at this place conveys passengers who 
wish to take the water ride to Lake Hotel, 15 or 20 miles 
distant. Three dollars is charged for this ride, which is 
exorbitant, as half that sum would be a good price. Tour- 
ists need not patronize the boat route, however, as their 
stages continue to Lake Hotel, which is reached late in 
the afternoon. 

Lake Hotel is also a night station, and is located at 
the easterly outlet of the lake, or head waters of the Yel- 
lowstone River. The garbage of the hotels is carried 
about a quarter of a mile away, and bears can be seen 
feeding here during the day, and particularly in the even- 
ing. The first order of attraction on the program after 
eating the evening meal is to go see the bears. At the 
Lake Hotel garbage depository was a bear with two cubs. 
One of the cubs started up a tree, a proceeding which 
Mother Bear did not approve of, rapping the youngster 
about the ears with her paw. The cub again started 
up the tree, and succeeded in reaching the first limb. The 
m.other followed, catching up with the cub, and threw 
the obstreperous "kid" to the ground. The park is full 
of wild animals, but they are protected by Government 
gamekeepers. 

In the morning a start was made for Canyon Hotel, 
the road following the Yellowstone River most all the 
way. Sulphur Mountain was passed, a high hill, con- 
taining thousands of tons of the chemical after which it 
is named. Noon time found us at Canyon Hotel, where 
the remainder of the day was spent, and where no time 
can be spent more delightfully, for we are at Grand Can- 
von of the Yellowstone. 



44 

The canyon begins with Lower Yellowstone Falls. 
Some distance above the falls the river is 200 feet wide, 
but narrows to half that distance where the water makes 
its 360-foot plunge downward. The water is of a blue- 
green color, and on either side its high banks are tinted 
with the softest shades imaginable. Veteran travelers 
unreservedly pronounce this the acme of Nature's color- 
ing. Orange, lemon and red are the contrasting shades, 
and they seem to blend perfectly. It seems as if a velvety 
brush had been dipped in a golden chalice containing 
liquid of a saffron hue, with which the walls were tinted in 
the mellow light of an orange sun by day and a harvest 
moon by night. The diamond-like spray from this blue- 
green river sublimely harmonizes with the soft, light- 
shaded banks, and no emerald waters are so kissed by 
shades from such delicately painted walls. 

In height, these falls do not exceed Vernal Falls of Yo- 
semite Valley, the lowest water descent of importance to 
be found there. But the volume of water passing over 
Lower Yellowstone is much greater than any in Yo- 
semite. It is the peerless coloring of the banks that make 
the scene one never to be forgotten. The height of the 
walls through which the river runs is from 1,200 to 1,500 
feet, and they are painted in the manner I have weakly 
attempted to describe for a distance of from two to three 
miles. 

An early start was made the next morning for Norris 
Basin. From a distance it resembles a manufacturing 
center, as its area above is filled with steam. 

In the nature of geysers, here is found something dif- 
ferent from those seen in the other basins. This geyser 
is called the Black Growler, with a chimney-shaped 
opening, out of which is emitted a great volume of steam, 
and producing a peculiar growling sound. The deposit 
surrounding the edge of this crater is, at times, of inky 
blackness, evidently the origin of its name. Hurricane, 



45 

a similar geyser, is a few feet northward, with irregular 
eruptions. The deposit of this spouter destroys the sur- 
rounding vegetation and foliage. 

Monarch geyser, the king of geysers in Norris Basin, 
consists of two oblong openings, the largest of which is 
20 feet long and 3 feet wide. Eruptions of the Monarch 
occur without warning, and consists of a series of ex- 
plosions, frequently more than a dozen, in which columns 
of water are thrown 100 feet high. The intervals of 
eruptions are about 12 hours. 

We leave Norris Basin for Dwelle, at which place we 
arrive late in the evening, a ride of 45 miles. By way 
of Norris, tourists go to Gardiner also. 

The next day was consumed in returning to Monida, 
where a train was boarded, and, riding all night, I got 
back to Salt Lake the next day. 

COLORADO SPRINGS, COL, 

Upon my return to Salt Lake, I went to work on the 
"Herald," a Mormon paper. I earned $60, and started 
eastward for Colorado Springs, a 24-hour ride, part of 
which was through splendid mountain scenery. 

There is no more popular place for tourists than this, 
affording fine mountain scenery, pure water, cool climate, 
free music, and an abundance of parks in which to rest, 
and where outdoor visiting can be enjoyed. Here, like 
in most all the Western cities, there can be seen no signs 
"Keep off the grass !" But to those who have viewed the 
scenery in the places I have mentioned previously, the 
features in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, while widely 
known, are not so noteworthy. Suffice it to say, however, 
the scenery offered to the visitor in South Cheyenne Can- 
yon is as interesting as can be found outside of the more 
famous places. The seven falls here, within a distance 
of some 300 odd feet, are perhaps not to be found else- 
where in the world, while the Pillars of Hercules, on 



46 

either side of the entrance, make the place impressive. 
Williams' Canyon offers scenic interest in a small way, 
while the Garden of the Gods is much out of the ordinary, 
and perhaps alone of its kind. The high red rocks at the 
eastward entrance, with the outline of two camel's heads 
coming together, or, more correctly speaking, ''The Kiss- 
ing Camels/' are not to be seen elsewhere in North 
America. 

The springs at Manitou, six miles from Colorado 
Springs, and located right at the base of Pike's Peak, 
claim a great patronage. These are soda springs, and 
contain many healing properties for numerous physical 
ailments. A cordon of hotels surrounds the vicinity where 
the water gushes upward from the ground, and are well 
filled with guests during the summer season. They put 
up at the hotels in Manitou to be close to the springs. 
Any time of day and evening, people can be seen coming 
from every direction, bearing bottles in their arms, or 
carrying them by string or strap tied to the necks of 
bottles. They fill these at the springs, and then take 
them to their place of abode. The medicinal properties of 
the soda springs at Manitou are widely known. 

PIKERS PEAK, 

To revel in savage manual labor, climbing Pike's Peak 
in less than six hours will suit the ardor of the strongest. 
It is as tough an undertaking as the steepest trails of 
Yosemite. At 8 135 A. M. I started from Manitou for the 
summit of Pike's Peak, and reached the top in less than 
six hours. I met people returning, w^ho had gone up 
the night before to be there in the morning in time to see 
the sun rise from the summit. I had reached Half- Way 
House (which is in reality but one-third of the way), 
when I was advised to turn back. "It's something 
awful!" "It's frightful to attempt to ascend it!" and 
similar other terms of discouragement came from those 



47 

I met returning. I proceeded onward. Further up, I 
came across tired travelers, some boiling coffee and cook- 
ing light lunch : in fact, human hulks and derelicts were 
strewn along the grade at frequent intervals. Some had 
been on the road from lo to i8 hours, and had not gotten 
more than half way, with little probability of getting any 
higher, the effects of the air now being felt. 

A fact that proved interesting to me was that, at about 
1 1, GOO feet above sea level, all vegetation ceased, and the 
eye rested on nothing but bare, brown rock. In a dis- 
tance of not more than a few hundred yards, the timber 
growth dwindles from ordinary sized trees to scrubs. This 
is commonly known as ''timber line" in the West. 

A couple of miles from the top, Windy Point was 
reached, and from here upward is where the shoe begins 
to pinch. Between here and the summit heavy showers 
of rain and sleet are generally encountered. 

Further up, for the first time in my life, I was traveling 
through clouds. They proved to be a thick, heavy mist. 
They would pass away, and again the sun would appear ; 
but only for a short time before another cloud would 
envelop one's surroundings. Each step at this time seemed 
a hundred yards, for the air was very light. The top 
was finally reached — a welcome goal. Here a log house 
stands, and is used as a restaurant and temporary hotel. 
About the room are several couches, which are nearly 
always occupied, as a great number of people become 
affected with the rarified air. I could have gone up 
without this terrible climb, but I felt I could not afford the 
$5 charge to ride on the cog-wheel car. 

A short distance before the platform of the house is 
reached, a man trying a door is noticed ; but little or no 
attention is paid to his movements. It is the first door 
reached by the traveler, which he attempts to open, but 
finds it locked. He tries the next one ; also locked. One 
is finally reached that seems accessible, but guarded by 



48 

a servant. An entrance is gained, however, but a chilly 
welcome given. 

I sat on a stool at the lunch counter. The waiter asked 
me what I wished to eat. I ordered a steak, expecting 
to pay at least a dollar for it. I was informed they had 
no steak, neither chops, ham, nor eggs, and no cold 
meat was left over from dinner, after giving my orders 
in rotation. Doughnuts, ham sandwiches, pie and coffee 
were all I could buy in the way of food. I ate two sand- 
wiches, two orders of doughnuts, and drank two cups of 
coffee, 90 cents being the charge, 15 cents for each order. 
A short time after I had finished eating, the cog-wheel car 
arrived, when there appeared on the same counter from, 
which I had eaten an abundance of cold roast beef, 
boiled eggs, cold ham, etc., for the passengers, the food 
I first called for, but which they refused to serve or sell. 

Between the lines, the reader will perceive that Pike's 
Peak foot travelers' patronage is not desired at the res- 
taurant on top of the peak. A charge of $5 is levied to 
carry passengers up and down on the cog-wheel car, the 
same parties owning the restaurant, all those obstacles 
and inconveniences being put in the way and encountered 
for the purpose of discouraging people from climbing the 
mountain who cannot afford to pay the $5 to ride. 

As I have intimated above, parties start up the peak in 
the evening to be there in time to see the sun rise the next 
morning. Upon reaching the summit, each pedestrian is 
charged 25 cents before a door can be entered. Should 
they for any cause later be compelled to leave the house, 
and wish to re-enter, an additional 25 cents is exacted. 
That's the hold-up a foot traveler is forced to meekly 
submit to at the log house on top of Pike's Peak. 

On the top the air is cold, sleet nearly always accom- 
panying rain, with terrific lightning and thunder. The 
bare, brown summit of this high mountain looks odd, as 
other mountains westward not nearly as high, are always 



49 

white with snow. A wide view is had of the surround- 
ing country from this high point. Colorado Springs, to 
the eastward, looked like a checker-board, while at the 
foot on another side, but at a much higher altitude, is 
Cripple Creek and Altman, the latter boasting the dis- 
tinction of being the only incorporated town in America 
at an altitude of ii,ooo feet. The height of Pike's Peak 
is said to be 14,300 feet. 

UNION PRINTERS* HOME. 

A mile from Colorado Springs is located the Childs- 
Drexel Home for Union Printers, the only retreat of its 
kind owned by a labor organization in the world. A 
donation of $10,000 was made some 12 to 15 years ago for 
its erection by the late George W. Childs, former owner 
of the "Philadelphia Public Ledger" for years before his 
death, and Anthony J. Drexel, banker, and his business 
partner. Improvements have been made and extensions 
added since that time, until at the present the total sum 
represented in the benefaction amounts to some $600,000. 
The main building, annex and superintendent's building 
comprise the home. Nicely laid out and well kept grounds 
surround it. Then there are the usual auxiliaries that 
go with institutions of this kind, such as barns, laun- 
dry, etc. 

The annex is exclusively set apart for the housing and 
keeping of the consumptive members. They are not pro- 
hibited, however, from associating with inmates not so 
afflicted, but they must eat and sleep in the building set 
apart for inmates with this ailment. When strolling about 
the grounds or resting in the summer houses, rigid rules 
against spitting are in force. Each patient is provided 
with a tin box, little larger than the ordinary mustard 
box. Placed inside is a paper casing, and into this por- 
table cuspidor the patient spits. When entering the build- 
ing at certain hours, each patient places his box in a 



50 

regularly designated place, and takes away with him .a 
fresh or clean one. The used, thick paper casing is taken 
out of the box later and burned. 

I took dinner with the consumptive inmates. The 
food was plain and wholesome. None of the patients 
seemed to drink tea or coflFee at meal time, a glass of 
milk being opposite each plate. Like all persons affected 
with this dreadful disease, they will tell you it is hard for 
them to understand why they are inmates of the annex. 
Only a minority of the inmates of this home, however, are 
so afflicted. 

No work is required of them. Besides, they are fur- 
nished with clothing, linen, etc., and receive from 50 
cents to $1 a week, with which to buy tobacco or any 
small articles they may need. The home is furnished with 
a library, and places for light amusement for the inmates. 
A quarter section of land surrounds it, and it is solely 
maintained by the membership of the International 
Typographical Union. 

The eastern base of the Rocky Mountains is the first 
station reached upon entering the "tuberculine country," 
through the most part of which I later pass. Colorado 
Springs and Denver are the first stopping places for con- 
sumptives in this section. 

DENVER, COL, 

Having spent eight days in sightseeing in and about 
Colorado Springs on the money I earned the last two 
weeks I was in Salt Lake, my next stopping place was 
Denver. My plans called for a seven-weeks' stay in this 
city, with the object of earning and saving enough money 
to take me to the City of Mexico, where I was due to 
arrive December ist. this being August 20th. 

Denver is perhaps the largest small city in the United 
States. With a population not exceeding 150,000, its 
business district, wholesale and retail, embraces territory. 



51 

and occupies as many buildings as is covered in cities 
with double the number of inhabitants. This is owing 
to its being a considerable distance from any large city, 
and because it is a supplying center for the great mining 
district. It is situated twenty miles from the base of the 
Rocky Mountains, but they look no further than from 
eight to ten miles distant. The climate in the summer 
season is delightful, being slightly warmer than that pre- 
vailing at Colorado Springs. Its business blocks are sub- 
stantial, and a feature of its residential section is the 
two-story brick houses. Few frame buildings are to be 
found in the capital of the Centennial State. Its streets 
are in first-class condition, in most instances asphalted. 
The number of people seen on the streets every afternoon 
give it the appearance of a Saturday crowd. 

Taking an electric car to the end of South Broadway, 
lands one some distance in the suburbs. The car line from 
here is continued with a small, old rickety car drawn by 
a horse. The grade is upward nearly to the end of the 
extension. Returning, mister wise horse carefully steps 
on the rear platform of the car. When he is safely footed, 
the car is started down the grade, he not making a move 
until the foot of the incline is reached. There mister wise 
horse steps off, unassisted, is again hooked to the car, 
pulls it up, and rides down again. This unusual incident 
has taken place for years. 

I found work the second day after reaching this place, 
and did not lose a day's time until I left, when the seven 
weeks for which my itinerary called for had expired. I 
had fattened my purse nicely. 

PUEBLO. COL. 

October 3d, I left Denver for Pueblo, the "Pittsburg of 
the West," for here is located the largest smelters west 
of the Mississippi River. The Colorado Fuel and Iron 
Company's plant is located in this city. 



52 

Here came under my observation naturally paved 
streets. The soil is that used in adobe buildings. It is 
impervious to water; the heavier the rain, the harder the 
clay becomes. 

ROYAL GORGE, 

While at Pueblo I made a trip to Canyon City, where 
a short distance westward, begins Royal Gorge. It seems 
as if this pass through the mountains might have 
specially been made to save a railroad company the 
expense of tunneling. 

The Gorge is six or eight miles long, through which 
runs the Arkansas River, and alongside it a railroad is 
built. The walls are from 500 to 600 feet in height, for 
the most part perpendicular. A hanging bridge, sup- 
ported from the top, marks the western end of the gorge. 
A large beam, fastened in the wall, extends over the 
track, like the beam of a scale. Depending from the 
end is an iron rod some three inches in diameter, which 
is bolted to a beam extending under the trestle. There 
is but oen foundation under the trestle. Instead of im- 
mediately under the rail, the single foundation is between 
the rails, or middle of the track. It is said this is the 
only bridge of its kind in the world. 

So narrow is the gorge and so close do the sides of the 
cars come to the walls, that a new dining car, a little 
wider than the ones used on the road, came in contact 
with the wall of the gorge at a short bend, delaying the 
train until the jutting rock was chiseled away. Seldom 
does the smoke from the engines get outside the walls, 
and they are black as soot in the narrow places. I 
walked all through Royal Gorge and back to Canyon 
City, returning to Pueblo. 

ALBUQUERQUEt N. M. 
I remained five days in Pueblo, securing but one night's 
work. I then bought a ticket to Albuquerque, N. M., 



53 

and reached this place the opening day of the Territorial 
Fair, where I found the city full of cowboys, gamblers, 
bunco-steerers, montebanks, Navajo Indians, Mexicans, 
and all sorts of people who frequent affairs of this kind 
in the West. Reaching there at night, I was unable to 
secure a room at the hotels, owing to the large number 
of people in the city to be present at the Fair. x\fter an 
hour's search, I found the office of the morning paper. 
I related to the foreman of the composing room my ina- 
bility to secure a room. He told me there was a stock- 
room at the side of the building which was at my pleas- 
ure. It being now midnight, space in the stockroom was 
much appreciated. By arranging reams of paper in bed- 
like fashion, and, finding a piece of flag bunting which 
I used for a pillow, I went to "bed," using my over- 
coat for a covering. I arose early to seek a room, as I 
was scheduled to remain in this place two weeks. After 
tramping about the outskirts of the city an hour or more, 
I found a room for rent, which I engaged. Like most 
places under similar circumstances, every one seeks to 
become rich in a week, so three prices were charged 
for ever^^thing. 

The features on the Fair program in which the most 
interest was taken were cattle "roping" and broncho 
busting. The cattle used were kept in a corral inside the 
fair grounds. Each "roper's" name was announced by 
an officer as it appeared on the program. At the open, 
or inside, entrance of the corral, the roper, on his steed, 
with lasso coiled, would take his stand. When the 
corral keeper was given the word to turn lose a steer, 
the gate was opened. The hurry-up manner in which the 
steer flew through the exit and into the grounds seemed 
as if he might have had wings. Those animals were right 
off the plains. 

The rules governing roping contests provide for the 
steer having a lead of 50 feet, which is clearly marked. 



54 

When the steer reached this mark, the roper spurred his 
horse, who seemed to jump several feet into the air, and 
lo fairly fly after the fleet-footed bovine. On they speed, 
the roper sinking- his spurs deeper into his horse's side 
to catch the steer. The latter at this time, with tail and 
head erect, is leaving a streak of dust behind. The roper 
is closing the space between him and the steer. The hoop- 
like rope is moving through space in the direction of the 
steer's horns. The animal is lassoed. The horse sharply 
turns. The steer is seen taking a sidewise somersault. 
The rider is off his horse in an instant and at the steer's 
hind legs, tying them together with a short piece of rope. 
Then to the forelegs, tying them in the same manner. 
The steer lies helpless. The roper's right hand appears 
above his head, indicating the steer is roped. While the 
judges are on their way to the animal to inspect the work- 
manship of the roper, the latter has unloosened his lasso 
from the steer's horns, and, coiling the hem.p, mounts his 
horse and rides away. After the judges have satisfied 
themselves as to the grade of workmanship before them, 
they untie the ropes, give the prostrate animal a kick 
to stir him up, when he jumps to his feet, and away 
he runs. The tim.e for which the roper is credited is 
the period that takes place between the steer's reaching 
the 50-foot mark and the holding up of the roper's hand. 
Should the roper move forward before the steer has 
reached the mark, he is disqualified. Even should the 
steer be securely tied, if the roping is of a slovenly nature, 
it counts against him when awarding the purse. 

A steer has little chance of regaining his feet after 
having been thrown by a horse well trained. One end of 
the rope is securely fastened to the horn of the saddle. 
After the rider is sure the lasso thrown is successful, the 
sharp turn made by the horse throws the steer. Before 
the roper has reached the steer, the horse is apparently 
walking away from the animal, and by so doing keeping 



the 



55 

the rope so tight that the steer cannot regain his feet. 
In one roping event the horse actually dragged the steer. 
In fact, it was eating grass at the same time. The human- 
like intelligence of these horses almost outshone the skill 
of the ropers. The record for roping a steer is 39 sec- 
onds. The best time made in the Albuquerque events 
was 49 seconds ; some were two minutes, and others 
failed to get near enough to the steer to even throw the 
lasso. 

The rules governing broncho busting are also very 
strict. For instance, should a rider touch the horn after 
throwing his righe leg over the saddle, he is disqualified. 

There was an event in which only Navajo Indians took 
part. This was lassoing wild horses, saddling and riding 
them. The lasso was about 75 feet long. The throw, being 
successful, which it proved to be in most cases, the horse 
would run off. Should the animal be too fleet for the In- 
dian to retain his feet, the Navajo would sit down and 
allow the horse to drag him all about the grounds. 
A long-winded horse would be brought under subjection 
by another rope being thrown over his head by a second 
Indian. It would not be long before the Navajo would 
be at the horse's side. A short time later the saddle 
would be thrown on, and then a bucking broncho, with 
head to the ground and hind feet in the air, is aimlessly 
bounding up and down, with an Indian glued-like to its 
back. 

While no restriction is placed on gambling in Albu- 
querque at any time, during fair season, which lasts a 
week, well — they never heard of a "lid." A strange cus- 
tom prevails on these occasions that I had never before 
heard nor read of. The last night of the closing of the 
fair festival is "women's night." This means that women 
are allowed to visit reputable or disreputable places of 
Albuquerque. Scores of veiled women, accompanied by 
their husbands, can be seen parading from one gambling 



56 

house to the other. Indeed, almost equally as many wear 
no veil. This is the only night in the year, however, 
when the "lid" is oif to women. 

Consumptives come to this place in considerable num- 
bers. It is the only place where I have ever distinctively 
noticed a difference in the air. The freedom in breathing 
may best be compared to that of drinking through a straw 
clogged up and one free from an impediment. 

The immediate country surrounding Albuquerque and 
further to the westward is known as the land of the 
mirage. While traveling over this section, it is not an 
infrequent sight to see ahead a clear, glassy watery ex- 
panse — like a large lake ; or, again, what looks like a 
dense forest growing out of the parched, sandy plains ; 
an unbroken stretch of clouds resting lazily upon the 
earth, a steepled city rising above what appears like a 
low mountain range, and sometimes rainbows that seem 
to extend from one side of the globe to the other loom up. 
One unaccustomed to such illusions will keep looking at 
this chimera for half a da)^ at a time, but never reach! 
what seems so plain to view. Mirages are more pro- 
nounced through this part of North America than any- 
where else. 

Of a number of press mentions I received while mak- 
ing my trip, the first appeared in the "Journal" in this 
place after I had left Albuquerque. 

Here was a critical stage of my trip. I could not learn 
exactly what demands the seeing of Grand Canyon of 
Arizona would make on my savings, and I knew railroad 
fare was 6 cents a mile through New Mexico and Ari- 
zona, with Phoenix the only place where I could expect 
a chance to work. However, I decided to see Grand 
Canyon and take the risk. 

GRAND CANYON, ARIZ. 

Having worked full time on a m.orning paper during 
my two weeks' stay in Albuquerque, I continued west- 



57 

ward to Williams, Ariz. Here I changed cars and 
boarded another train in waiting. Three hours' ride 
northward found me at Bright Angel station, Grand 
Canyon of Arizona, "the greatest thing in the world." 

One familiar with scenery of this character, would 
naturally expect to find it in severe mountain fastnesses. 
But this great, awful, picturesque gash in the earth has 
been gnarled out of a high level plateau by the Colorado 
River, which is owing to this noted feature at times being 
called Grand Canyon of the Colorado. 

The edge of the canyon is commonly termed the "rim," 
and if a straight line were run from the "rim" to a point 
directly above the river, the distance between them would 
be from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. The distance across this 
seemingly unlimited chasm is from 10 to 20 miles, and 
in length 217 miles. 

Bright Angel, the place at which the railway ends, 
is the most frequented, because it is the only point 
touched by a railroad, until recently, stages being the 
mode of travel. The canyon was first partially explored 
by one Lieutenant Ives in 1857, but not until 1869 was 
it intelligently made known to the world. The number 
of tourists who visit this wonder are few compared 
to those who patronize Yosemite and Yellowstone and 
other popular features of the country. 

There are two ways in which the canyon can be seen. 
The majority of people who come to see it never get into 
the canyon, stopping between trains, from 4 o'clock in 
the afternoon until 9 o'clock the next morning. This 
time permits of only a view from the rim. To see this 
chasm right, a visit must be made into it. Four or five 
days' time in, through, and over it from various points, 
is not too long a period to tarry among, and ponder 
over, the magnificence and awfulness of this, the greatest 
thing of its kind in the world. 

From the rim to the river over Bright Angel trail is 



58 

four miles. The walls between which the waters run 
is from 1,200 to 1,500 feet high, and some parts are of 
black granite. There is but one other place in the world 
where granite of this color is said to be found — in Switz- 
erland. It is black as walls of coal, and hard as steel. The 
river in some places is 200 feet in width. A tremendous 
volume of water at certain seasons of the year flows be- 
tween those walls, as driftwood (huge logs) can be seen 
resting on ledges 40 and 50 feet above the water at normal 
stages. To geologists, the black granite feature at this 
point is of unusual importance. From but few points 
of the "rim" the river can be seen, when it resembles a 
piece of white cord. After having reached the river's 
edge, it can be seen only for a distance of from 100 feet 
to 50 yards, so crooked is its course and high its walls. 

But it is the varied colorings of the formations on 
which the eye feasts. Green, red, yellow, blue, lavender, 
purple, alabaster — in fact, more colors than in a rain- 
bow. Some of the seams of formations in the wall are 
from 100 to 1,500 feet thick. Hundreds of painted 
mountain castles rise before one; and when all might 
seem to be in view others momentarily spring up — ap- 
parently no end to them. 

A short distance off the trail on either side when about 
a mile from the river is located the abandoned homes 
of the Cliff Dwellers. They are situated on cliffs, the 
stone above serving the purpose of a roof. In most in- 
stances the space between the ledges are low, necessita- 
ting passing from one apartment to the other on all fours, 
and in other instances the space will not permit of this. 
The partitions are made of clay, rough, without further 
labor being used than merely piling it to a height of two 
feet in places and about six inches thick. Digging into the 
dirt on the floors and raking it, often brings to light 
pieces of crockery, stone arrow heads and bones. High 
above where the Cliff Dwellers lived can be seen small 



'.; 



59 

mud buildings, sometimes not over a foot square, which, 
one is apt to conclude, were built and used for the pur- 
pose of concealing valuables, for, it seems, only a bird 
could reach them.. Judging from the nature of their 
abodes, the Cliff Dwellers must have been a diminutive 
race. 

From Grand view, 17 miles northward from Bright 
Angel, I obtained m}^ best view of the canyon. The 
shades on the castle-like mountains seemed to be chang- 
ing all the while, the coloring more beautiful with each 
shifting. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon in the 
latter part of October when I left this place, and after 
alternating from shade to shade for some time before, 
the air of the abyss below was transformed to a pale blue. 

Were Yosemite Valley, Yellowstone Park, Niagara 
Falls, Pike's Peak, and other scenic and interesting places 
all dumped into Grand Canyon of Arizona, without one 
knew of it, it is doubtful, with the exception of Pike's 
Peak, could they be noticed the next day by even one 
familiar with the place. 

It must be seen to be appreciated, as a description of 
it will find but a temporary lodgment impaled on a pro- 
jection from a scenic cliff of the human mind. 

PRESCOTT, ARIZ. 

After a five days' stay in and above this picturesque 
gash in the earth, I boarded a train for Williams, to Ash 
Fork, and down to Prescott, Ariz. The population of 
this place is not more than 5,000 inhabitants, but con- 
siderable business is transacted here. Not far in the 
mountains is located the United Verde and other rich 
mines, and Prescott is the supplying center for mining 
machinery, foodstuffs and material of all kinds used in 
settlements of this district. Prescott is the only place I 
know of where 5,000 inhabitants support three daily nev/s- 
papers. 



6o 
PHOENIX, ARIZ. 

After spending a day in this hustling mountain "city," 
I boarded a train for Phoenix, the Territorial capital, the 
Mecca for consumptives in the fall and winter seasons, 
it has the largest ostrich farm in the country, and is the 
hottest place of its size in North America. 

Phoenix's population is perhaps 8,000 or 10,000 during 
the summer season, and 4,000 or 5,000 greater during the 
fall and winter. With the exception of Hot Springs, 
Ark., it is in a class by itself — the capital of the ''tuber- 
culine belt." 

In the hotel at which I roomed were numbers of "silent 
sufferers." A day or two after I had reached this place, 
while sitting on the porch, was a man in the last 
stages of consumption, scarcely able to brush the flies 
off. He seemed to wish to converse with me. Finally, 
looking straight at me, he asked: "What seems to be 
the trouble?" I was enjoying perfect health, and looked 
it. It is taken for granted that any one who stops in 
Phoenix is there for his health. 

I went to work at once on a morning paper. Coming 
to my room every morning after work, at 3 A. M., on 
each side of the halls could be heard the soft "hack, 
hack," followed by a "hawk, hawk." A strong odor of 
disinfectant pervaded the whole place. The place seemed 
as if it were a sub-station of a morgue. 

I asked one young fellow, who was doomed, how he 
was getting along. He described to me the size of the 
steak he had eaten for supper, and further said he had 
written his father, "If tenderloin steaks and good whisky 
hold out, I think I will come out all right in the 
springtime." He never overlooked an opportunity of 
advising his fellow sufferers to acquire the whisky-drink- 
ing habit as a consumiptive cure. 

Upon reaching my room one morning, I found the bed 
the same as I had left it the day before. After getting 



6i 

up, I made it a particular feature of the day's program 
to call the landlady's attention to this neglect. She said 
she knew it, and added : "When sick people are dying in 
this house, fat fellows must wait !" One must needs be 
callous-hearted who could think of making a reply, 
knowing how good she was to those sufferers in their 
dying moments. 

Arrangements for taking care of the dead are made 
with the undertaker a week before they pass away, and 
their relatives and friends are notified several weeks in 
advance. The bodies are in most instances taken out 
of the hotels and rooming houses at night, and the back 
way used almost entirely. They are carried in a large 
basket used for this purpose. 

There are others who go to Phoenix in the hope that 
their lives may be prolonged, who, after a week's stay, 
can be seen struggling up the few steps to the platform 
of the car, praying they may reach home and see their 
relatives before they die. This class have put off their 
coming to Phoenix a season or two too long. In restau- 
rants, barber shops, hotels, parks, streets — everywhere 
one may look or turn can be seen the drooping, wasting, 
pale-faced victims, but silent to the cause all the while. 
The coming of these sufferers bring about "good times" 
in Phoenix. 

It was the first day of November when I reached the 
Salt River metropolis, as Phoenix is called, and I re- 
mained until the 23d inst. During that time the hydrant 
water was of a lukewarm temperature, the thermometer 
registering 85 to 90 degrees in the shade during the 
day. In summer, the mercury rises as high as 120 de- 
grees, and generally from 100 to 115 degrees. During 
the hot season of Phoenix the "floating" winter inhab- 
itants migrate to a cooler climate. 

Dates, figs, pomegranates, oranges, lemons and other 
tropical and semi-tropical fruits grow in Phoenix and ad- 
jacent territory. 



62 

In the court house and City Hall squares, oleanders 
from 12 to 20 feet high grow, and were covered with 
flowers at that time. Around the Territorial building 
of Arizona the floral display in early winter is better 
than found any other place in summer. It was estimated 
there was 100,000 chrysanthemums in bloom about the 
grounds, besides bending clusters of highly cultivated 
roses, and large beds of blooming sweet peas. In addi- 
tion, the grass sod was cleared away and grain sowed 
in its place so it would be green during the legislative 
session. Then orange trees bearing ripening fruit, floral 
shrubbery, and more flowers, offer to the eye an early 
winter scene to be found only in the tropics. 

Sixty miles above Phoenix, and nearing completion, is 
one of a number of great reservoirs the Government is 
building throughout the arid West. This is known as 
the Tonto dam, and when completed will represent an 
outlay of $1,500,000. The nature of its construction is 
the walling and cementing up of an opening of a canyon. 
In the springtime a great quantity of water from the 
melting snows run in and flows through this canyon. By 
securely walling up the end, the water remains in this 
basin. From this a large ditch for irrigation purposes 
will be dug, and "feeders" all throughout Salt River 
vallev and adjacent territory will carry water to refresh 
and make valuable land that has heretofore been useless 
for either grazing or crop purposes. 

Nine miles from Phoenix I found the largest ostrich 
farm in North America, the birds numbering 1,000. There 
are smaller farms located here also. The chief diet of 
these huge birds is alfalfa, a sort of clover, so productive 
in the West. Two ostriches can live on a quarter of an 
acre of alfalfa. In breeding time they are paired, a fence 
separating each "couple." Whey laying time comes, the 
male ostrich makes the nest. Often his selection is not of 
the female's choice, and she will seek another place. But 



63 

the male bird will brook no tomfoolery, and whips her to 
the nest he has provided. A setting is composed of from 
13 to 16 eggs, but 15 are all an ostrich can cover. They 
take just twice as long to hatch as a hen's Qgg — six 
weeks — and each egg weighs three pounds. 

Strange as it may seem, the male bird is more mindful 
of the embryonic feathery herd than the fem.ale. He sits 
on the eggs nearly two-thirds of the time. Even then, 
the male is compelled to force the female to her task of 
sitting. The feathers are picked but three times in two 
years, and a plucking does not bring more than $30. 
Feathers plucked from young birds before six months old 
are useless for commercial purposes. It is in the price of 
the ostriches where the money interest lies, a pair being 
worth from $2,000 to $3,000. 

When a setting contains 16 eggs, one is taken away by 
a keeper and placed in an incubator. While I was visit- 
ing an incubator house, a chick was picking at the inside 
of the shell, which was so thick that the chick was unable 
to break it. The keeper used a sharp-pointed hammer to 
break the shell. The mother bird, he said breaks them with 
her breastbone, which is covered with little more than 
the skin. The ostrich is quick and treacherous. They 
aim to strike a man in the breast with their toe, and, if 
there be nothing between him and the ostrich, he is sure 
to be ripped open. They are deadly afraid of a dog. 

A large Indian school is located a short distance from 
Phoenix, where Indian boys and girls receive a good ed- 
ucation, and the attendance is very encouraging to the 
Government, which maintains it. 

As stated above, I reached Phoenix the first day of 
November, and left the 23d inst. I had worked 22 con- 
tinuous nights, the pay being $4 per night, which, with 
overtime, amounted to $90 in all. In addition to this, the 
business manager of the paper on which I had worked 
presented me upon leaving with a railroad pass to El 
Paso, a saving of $20.40. Nice little pick-up. 



64 

On the day I left I received a write-up in the "Repub- 
lican," covering my trip up to this time. 

EL PASO, TEX, 

Thirty-five miles southward from Phoenix, at Mari- 
copa, the main line of the Southern Pacific railroad was 
reached, over which I traveled on my first move from 
Washington to Los Angeles. The train from San Fran- 
cisco eastward was due to arrive at this place at 1 130 
A. M. The train was reported two hours late, and my- 
self, like other passengers familiar with this uncertain 
railroad quantity, engaged accommodations at a hotel for 
the night, for we knew "two hours" meant in this case 
all the time necessary to sleep and eat before we were 
aboard. It was i o'clock in the afternoon before the 
train reached Maricopa, twelve hours late. 

We reached El Paso, Tex., the Gate City, at 7 A. M. 
the next morning. I had stopped in this city some ten 
years before, and readily observed it had not allowed 
grass to grow under its feet during that time. Seattle, 
Wash., had doubled its population, but El Paso had al- 
most trebled hers in ten or twelve years. There is no 
city in our country so free from competition. Its nearest 
neighbors of consequence are Fort Worth and San An- 
tonio, both over 600 miles distant. 

El Paso has been well named the Gate City, for it is 
1,200 miles from New Orleans, 1,200 from St. Louis, 
800 miles from Denver, 1,200 miles from the City of 
Mexico, and 1,200 miles from San Francisco. It is situ- 
ated in the extreme northwest corner of Texas, a few 
miles from which can be seen a large, erect stone, which 
designates the boundarv line between the United States 
and Mexico. 

There are seven railroads entering this thrifty, commer- 
cial child of the plains. Large smelters form one of its 
chief industries. Its building blocks are good, and busi- 



65 

ness activity is noticeable on every hand. Consumptives 
in considerable numbers are present at every turn. 

It may be interesting to note here the zigzag course I 
had laid out in my itinerary, made necessary to enable 
me to reach points of interest. For instance, Denver, 
Col., is 1, 600 miles east of San Francisco. From Denver 
to Albuquerque, N. M., I traveled southwesterly 523 
miles, then westerly 444 miles to Grand Canyon of 
Arizona; then 280 miles southward to Phoenix, Ariz. 
At this point I was only 400 miles from Los Angeles. 
Then from Phoenix eastward 435 miles to El Paso. From 
here I started directly southward 1,225 niiles to the City 
of Mexico, after a three days' stay. 

MEXICO- 

Thanksgiving Day overtook me, but I ate no turkey, 
for at II o'clock A. M. on that day I started for the City 
of Mexico. I met an old friend in El Paso who could 
find no work and was without funds, and I prevailed upon 
him to accompany me to Mexico's capital, where I 
thought he might do better. 

My earnings in Albuquerque, 22 continuous nights hi 
Phoenix, and with what I had saved in Denver, enabled 
me to reach the border strong in funds. I had $135 in 
my possession, and felt quite sure this would carry both 
myself and friend through. 

How quickly the scene changes. Just across the Rio 
Grande River, at Juarez, one-story adobe buildings, nar- 
row, untidy streets, no sidewalks in some places, people 
dark and silent, dressed in different pattern clothes and 
of a poorer quality — all about, there seemed a great dif- 
ference. Here the Mexican customs officers inspect the 
baggage. And what a difference between them and some 
of our customs officers ! The Mexican officers were so 
careful not to disturb anything and do their duty at the 
same time, that it might appear as if they thought cases, 
valises, etc., contained snakes or tarantulas. 



66 

The Mexican passenger trains are composed of three 
different class cars — first, second and third. The first- 
class cars are the ordinary day coaches used on the trains 
this side of the border. The second-class cars are plain, 
with board seats, which hold two people. The third- 
class cars are also plain, with a partition between two 
seats — back to back. The latter car was crowded. And 
what a motley lot ! The women in most cases wore no 
head covering, the men wore long, pointed hats and car- 
ried a blanket. Some wore shoes, other sandals, and 
many were barefooted. The odor that arose from the 
third-class car might warrant the making of a wager of 
lo to I that a clean man could not remain in this car 
24 hours without falling a victim to typhoid fever, small- 
pox, beri-beri, or yellow fever. Every mother's son of 
them seemed, to be badly in need of a shave, haircut, 
shampoo, and a hot water bath. Most of the occupants 
of this car were peons, the lowest class of Mexicans. 

A decided improvement can be noticed in the second- 
class cars. Mostly the middle class of Mexicans (what 
few there be of this grade) patronize this coach. In 
addition to the regular passengers of this car can be no- 
ticed half a dozen rough-looking Mexicans, who re- 
semble a portable arsenal more than anything else one 
might think of. In plain sight is a revolver in a holster, a 
knife in a sheath, and a carbine, with strap attached, flung 
over their shoulders. To say the least, they looked for- 
midable. Such a sight will not strongly appeal to an 
American as representing a high type of civilization. In- 
quiry later as to what all this meant, brought out the 
information they are the passengers' friend — a train 
guard. Come to think of it, how often do we hear of a 
train hold-up in Mexico ? These armed men are assigned 
to each train to prevent this very thing. I felt much 
easier when I learned of their mission, as they did not 
look good to me before. 



67 

The first-class coach seemed to be patronized entirely 
by Americans in ordinary circumstances. Attached to 
this coach was a Pullman car. The first-class coach con- 
tains a stove, but no heat is furnished second and third- 
class passengers. 

Chihuahua was the first place of consequence reached 
after leaving El Paso. Throughout the territory traveled 
in coming to this place were arid plains, the dust sifting 
through the windows until it was so thick one's name 
could be plainly written with the point of the finger on 
the shoulders of a dust-covered coat. In fact, from El 
Paso to the City of Mexico is about as dusty a stretch 
of traveling one can experience. 

Plalf way southward we passed through a large cotton- 
growing section. The character of the cotton grown in 
Mexico is much different from that grown in the South- 
em States of our country. In the latter, the seed must be 
planted every season the same as grain and corn, while 
in Mexico planting takes place but once in every eight 
years, I was told, and the cotton is of a much higher grade 
than ours. It is said the quality is equal to that of Egyp- 
tian. 

The eating- stations along the way were nearly all con- 
ducted by Chinese. 

The conductors on this road were Americans, while the 
brakemen were Mexicans. 

At Irapuato we stopped for a short while. On the 
platform of the depot and on both sides of the train were 
any number of peons selling strawberries. At any season 
of the year, passengers can buy strawberries at this place, 
and to travelers it has become known as the "Strawberry 
Station." 

CITY OF MEXICO- 

After a 48-hour ride we reached the capital of Mexico. 
Cabmen and hotel criers were here the same as at the 



68 

stations in our own country, but were not so boisterous. 
A high fence extends to the depot, through which vehicles 
must pass in and out through a gate. A driver carrying 
a passenger cannot pass through this gate until a police- 
man takes the number of his cab, and any up-to-date 
traveler will do likewise. This is done to protect visitors 
from harm and to safeguard their property. Should bag- 
gage or valuables of any kind be lost during the time the 
cab is occupied, by reporting it to the police officers it 
will soon be recovered. 

Cab fare is graded, and so indicated by a small tin 
flag on the driver's seat, and by painted bars on the sides 
of the vehicle. A cab with yellow bars or flag is a 25- 
cent cab. But only one fare can be collected, though 
the cab might contain four people — 25 cents for four — 
or 25 cents for one person. The cab with red flag and 
bars is 50 cents — 50 cents for as many as can get inside. 
The 75-cent cabs are blue and kept in a tidy manner. 

At a hotel we tried to make the clerk understand we 
wished to engage a room. He could not speak English, 
and apparently did not seem to understand what we 
wished. When leaving the office, two Mexican gentlemen 
passed us. One overheard something we had said about 
our failure to engage a room. This gentleman, who spoke 
fair English, asked what the difficulty was. We explained. 
Shortly he returned and told us it was because we could 
not speak Spanish that they did not care to receive us, 
and apologized for the lack of knowledge his countryman 
displayed in entertaining strangers. He said he would 
see that we secured a room. The clerk at the second 
hotel we visited could speak no English, but the Mexican 
gentleman did our talking for us. We were shown to a 
room, and the gentleman who brought us to this place 
also accompanied the clerk to the room assigned us. He 
looked the room over, placed his hand on the bed springs 
to see if they were all right, and then asked us if we 



69 

were satisfied with our quarters. When we assured him 
everything was satisfactory, he tipped his hat, poHtely 
bowed, and started downstairs. This incident is cited to 
give the reader an idea of Mexican hospitaHty. When 
he escorted us to the hotel, we were in his charge. His 
coming to our room was to see that our accommodations 
were all right, thereby fulfilling his mission. 

San Francisco street is the main thoroughfare of the 
city. Like most all the streets, it is narrow, the side- 
walks not being more than four or five feet wide. This 
street is paved with asphalt. 

Right in the heart of the city is located the Alameda, a 
park, three blocks in length and one wide. It receives the 
best of care. Large trees, shrubbery and flowers grow 
here, with seats scattered all about the park. Large, 
round, cement fountains are also located at short dis- 
tances, but no cups out of which to drink are provided. 
There is also a bandstand erected in the Alameda, and 
music is furnished the public gratis three times a week 
by a Government band. 

Located in this park is also the lottery building. This 
is a large, round building, more glass than wood. The 
glass is of many different colors. The hawking of tickets 
about the streets by the poorer class proves generally a 
source of annoyance to people walking about. 

The city has a population of some 400,000 inhabitants^, 
about 10,000 of whom are English speaking. Americans 
are in the majority, although there are a great number 
of Englishmen in the city. 

The City of Mexico is situated on a broad, high 
plateau at an an altitude of 7,300 feet, surrounded by high 
mountains about seventeen miles distant. This altitude 
is over 2,000 feet higher than Denver, Col. 

Few of the older buildings used for living purposes 
are more than two stones, and a great number of them 
not more than one story. The outside appearance of the 



70 

buildings would lead one to believe they were made en- 
tirely of mortar. No frame buildings are to be seen, ex- 
cept in the newly built suburbs of the city. 

The houses have a peculiar appearance — they almost 
resemble forts. One house seems to take in an entire 
block. The entrances from the street lead to a large 
courtyard on the inside, and from this courtyard are the 
entrances to the different apartments. The courtyards 
have the appearance of an inside street, as it were. In 
the large buildings and hotels, this court street or opening 
extends through the block building— from one street to 
the other. The windows and doors to the apartments 
face the courtyard, thus affording light and fresh air 
to all the roomis. All about the courtyards can be seen 
flowers and creeping vines growing in pots and large 
tubs, presenting a very pleasing appearance. 

Evidence that the value of this method of obtaining 
light and air in living apartments can be seen in some of 
the larger cities in the East at the present time, and it is 
only recently that builders in New York City have been 
compelled by law to allow for spacious courts when build- 
ing tenement houses, thus doing away with the dimly 
lighted, unhealthy, stuffy rooms found in most of the ten- 
ement houses. 

The courtyards are covered with a stone flooring, and 
by a city decree must be scrubbed twice daily ; and Mex- 
ican decrees are obeyed, especially in this particular in- 
stance, I observed. Carriage room and stables are also 
contained in buildings of this kind. 

The porters, or janitors, of these buildings sleep on 
the inside of the courtyard. The entrance is closed at 
lo P. M. After that hour admittance to the building is 
gained only by awakening the porter. It can readily be 
seen that there is little chance for thieves in Mexico under 
this system, as no one but those known to occupy rooms 
or apartments will be admitted. 



71 

There are no chimneys to be seen in Mexico. The 
stoves used are earthen pails, in which is placed charcoal, 
the common fuel of the country. Oil and gas stoves, 
however, are taking the place to some degree of these 
charcoal buckets; but they will always be used by the 
poor. 

Flowers are always in bloom in Mexico, as the average 
temperature is 65 degrees. There is very little difference 
between winter and summer so far as the weather condi- 
tions are concerned. 

I remained in Mexico six weeks, and during all that 
time I did not hear or read of a street hold-up at night. 
It is almost impossible for this to occur. The members of 
the police force number 1,700, and the area of the city 
is not much greater than cities with half its population 
on this side of the border. At night, on every block of 
the city, with the exception, perhaps, of the suburbs, 
a policeman can be seen. Each one carries a lantern 
when going on duty, which he places in the center of 
the square. In the daytime, the policemen are generally 
to be found where the lanterns are at night. Each officer 
is armed with a club and pistol, the latter exposed in a 
holster. They are on duty 12 hours a day, for which they 
receive $1.50. Besides policemen, the city and suburbs 
are alive with soldiers and cavalrymen on duty. The 
only class of shady characters in Mexico that the officers 
cannot completely subdue, are pickpockets, who are said 
to be the most deft of any in the world. 

In no single instance of the arrests which came under 
my observation did the policeman take hold of the pris- 
oner. Should the officer be called to a house for any in- 
fraction of law requiring an arrest, all who are present, 
whether principals or not, are taken to the police station. 
Should those fail to disclose to the authorities who the 
offenders are, all are placed in jail and kept there until 
the guilty parties are found. It is no uncommon sight 



72 

to see from lo to 25 Mexicans walking alongside and 
behind an officer on their way to a police station. Where 
one swears out a warrant for the arrest of some one who 
has done him a wrong, the party on whom the warrant is 
served can swear out a counter-warrant. If the offenses 
are but of the daily police court kind, a fine is imposed 
on the beligerent known to have the most money. 

A policeman in the Mexican capital does not warn an 
offender more than once, and then in a low, quiet tone 
of voice. No officious or bullying characteristics are no- 
ticeable in police officers. Everything is done with but 
few words, and those are spoken low. The easy man- 
ner with which arrests are made, and the obedience of 
offenders when under arrest, is accounted for by the 
generally known fact that any attempt to run away 
means probable death, as an officer will shoot in a mo- 
ment at an attempt to escape, and their aim is known to 
be excellent. 

The street car system of the city is good. The cars 
are all of the modern type, with air appliances. I boarded 
a surburban car for Chapultepec, requesting the conduc- 
tor to notify me upon reaching this station. From the 
information I had previously received of the distance 
from the city to this point, with the speed of the car, and 
the length of time I had been riding, it occurred to me 
the car had passed the place at which I wished to get off. 
I asked an American passenger if we had reached Cha- 
pultepec. He told me we were a mile beyond. No 
streets, stations or places of any kind are announced by 
conductors, and were they, it would be in so low a tone 
of voice as to be inaudible two feet away. I waited at the 
station at which I got off for a car going toward the city. 
I boarded another car, and when I reached a building 
along the way that looked different from the ordinary 
country mansion, I decided this must be Chapultepec, so 
alighted. I proved to be right. 



73 

Chapiiltepec (Hill of the Grasshopper), the White 
House of Mexico, is about three miles from the heart of 
the city. This is a fine old castle, built on a hill, with 
magnificent grounds surrounding it. Where Chapultepec 
stands, was formerly the site of Moctezuma's favorite 
park. Here also was the scene of a battle between United 
States and Mexican troops in 1847. Situated on the 
same hill stands the Military Academy. A young Mexi- 
can cadet, who could speak some English, invited me to 
take a trip through the building. I accompanied him, 
and found it to be modern in every respect, but not large. 

In the grounds surrounding Chapultepec grow large 
cypress trees, covered with Spanish moss. One is 170 
feet high and 46 feet around the trunk. An artificial 
lake is here, and the walks and drives are in splendid con- 
dition. This park is being enlarged every season. In 
connection with it also is a zoological garden, but this 
has room to grow. Here, as in the Alameda, Zocalo and 
Paseo de la Reforma, music is dispensed several times a 
week. 

The most interesting building in the city is the Cathe- 
dral, which faces the Zocalo, another city park. Also fac- 
ing the park from another side is the capitol building 
of Mexico. 

The land on which the Cathedral is built was formerly 
the site of the Aztec Temple, which the Spaniards razed 
when the city was conquered in 1521. The first stone of 
the present building was laid in 1573, and its final dedi- 
cation took place in 1667. The towers were not com- 
pleted, however, until 1791. The entire cost of the build- 
ing was about $2,000,000. It measures 387 feet from north 
to south, and 177 feet from east to west. Its interior 
height is 179 feet, and has 90 pillars, each 35 feet in cir- 
cumference, to support the roof. It has five knaves, 
fourteen chapels, and six altars. The towers are 203 
feet high. In the south tower are six bells, and in the 



74 

north ten. Some of the bells are either tolling or ring- 
ing a considerable portion of the day. They are not rung 
by ropes being pulled, but by men pushing them back- 
ward and forward, and at times turning them clear over. 
Up to a few years ago the bells rang continuously. 

The doors of the church during the day are always 
open to both worshipers and visitors. It is doubtful if 
there is a moment during the day when worshipers are 
not found in the Cathedral. But several times when I vis- 
ited it I saw no priests about the church. Churches are 
very numerous in the city, not more than three or four 
blocks apart. These churches are all of the Catholic 
faith. In fact, I don't believe a Protestant church build- 
ing is to be found. Methodist, Presb5^terian and others 
of Protestant denomination hold mid-week and Sundav 
services, but halls are used for this purpose. 

The Cathedral of Guadalupe, named after the patron 
saint of Mexico, is situated four miles from the city. The 
doors of this church, like most all of the churches in 
Mexico, are open from morning until night. There is 
no church in Mexico so sacred to the masses than Guada- 
lupe. 

The origin of the erection of this church is related to 
every visitor, and solemnly taught the young generation. 
Back in the middle of the fifteenth centur}^ an Indian, 
Juan Diego, was crossing the hill above where the church 
stands, and on which the chapel is built, on his way to 
the city. An apparition, the relator will tell, appeared 
in the pathway, and instructed Juan to bear a message 
to the bishop of the city to erect a church on the spot 
where the church now stands. The bishop was slow to 
believe the message brought by the Indian. But the latter 
was firm, and would not depart from the "bishop's pres- 
ence until he had assurance from him the instructions he 
bore were entertained. The bishop instructed the Indian, 
should the apparition appear to him a second time, to 
bring with him some sign. 



75 

Some time later Juan made another trip to the city, but 
was particular not to come the way he traveled when 
intercepted by the apparition. Nevertheless, the vision 
again appeared, and the instructions concerning the build- 
ing of the church were reiterated. He stated what took 
place at the bishop's, and asked for a sign. He was told 
to pluck flowers, growing all about him, although the 
hill is sandy and barren of foliage of any kind. He did 
as he was commanded, putting them in his tilma, Qr 
blanket. After tying the ends of the blanket securely so 
the flowers might not drop out by the wayside, he con- 
tinued on his way toward the city and to the bishop. In 
the presence of the latter he untied the ends of his tilma 
for the purpose of disclosing to the bishop the sign. When 
the blanket was opened, it was found to contain no flow- 
ers. Instead, however, there appeared painted on the 
tilma the flowers he had gathered about his feet on the 
elevation when in the presence of the saint. One is told 
this painted blanket is a masterpiece. When shown about 
the church, the guide invariably points to a blanket as the 
one on which the painted flowers appeared when first 
opened in the bishop's presence by the Indian. ' The 
church being quite dark, the coloring does not appear to 
one as that related by the guide. 

Around the altar of the church is a silver railing which 
weighs 26 tons. To be seen on the incline of the hill just 
above the church are two large stone sails, dedicated 
in consummation of a vow made by a rich family in 
gratitude for the safe return of a vessel to the port of 
Veracruz, believed to have been lost in a storm. Here 
also a grotto with mosaics. The cemetery of Santa Ana 
is close by. It was in the barracks at Guadalupe that 
the treaty of peace between Mexico and the United 
States was signed. 

It is in the middle of December when the feast of 
Guadalupe is celebrated. Thousands of natives from bun- 



, 76 

dreds of miles round attend this event. The chief fea- 
tures of the occasion seemed to be eating, drinking, buy- 
ing, selHng, gambHng and worshiping. The church is 
filled with worshipers during the feast season, and the 
streets with gambling devices of many kinds. A piece of 
cloth about six feet long and four feet wide is attached to 
poles, in the shade of which the cooking of the poorer 
class is done on earthen buckets, with charcoal as fuel. 
Any of the food is for sale. Dried goats' heads can be 
seen stacked on the sidewalks, which are eaten by the 
poor. Black beans and tortillas (a cake like our buck- 
wheat cake, only thinner, and made of ground corn) are 
prominent on the public menu. Venders can be seen 
sleeping, rolled up in their blankets, at night where they 
do business in the day. All the earthly possessions they 
own are what is seen behind the canvas or in shady 
places on or alongside the walks. Fully half of them are 
in their bare feet, another quarter of them wearing san- 
dals, and the remaining one-fourth wearing cheap or sec- 
ond-hand shoes. There are tens of thousands of the in- 
habitants of Mexico who have never worn a shoe. Some 
of the bare feet seem as thick as an ordinary foot with 
a shoe on. Large cracks can be seen in the feet, probably 
caused by exposure. 

They all have some kind of blanket. This^ with a 
high-pointed hat, is all they own in the world. The 
trousers and shirts worn by the men are much patched 
and in shreds, and the skirts and waists worn by the 
women are no better. The poorer class of Mexicans 
attending the fiesta of Guadalupe is typical of those to be 
found at gatherings of this character throughout the re- 
public. They represent in Mexico what the negro does 
in the Southern States of our country. They will not 
submit to oppressive treatment, however, like a negro. 

A great number of the poor people seem to have no 
permanent homes. In the city they sleep on band stands 



77 

and benches at night, but always seem to be going some- 
where in the daytime. 

Hundreds of Mexicans passing along the street, talk-, 
ing to one another, might not be heard 20 feet away. 
This noticeable trait applies to both high and low of the 
country. To term them the low-voiced race would be ap- 
propriate. Each one seems to strictly mind his own 
affairs. Even the ignorant are neither bold or forward, 
and their careful, polite manner of approach indicates an 
inheritance of manners of which people of other races 
holding a much higher position in the social scale cannot 
boast. 

The liquor drinking habit of Mexico, like that of most 
every country, is responsible in a great measure for the 
low social standing of the natives. The liquor used by 
the poor in the City of Mexico and for several hundred 
miles around, is pulque. This liquor is . very cheap, 6 
cents buying enough to make a person beastly intoxi- 
cated, I was told. The liquid is taken from the pulque 
plant. As a beverage, it holds a relative place as beer 
in other countries. 

This plant seems to thrive best in the radius I have 
mentioned about the city. It looks like a large, spread- 
ing cactus when full grown. It is planted in rows about 
14 to 16 feet apart. When young, grain is sown between 
the rows. It requires absolutely no care from the time 
it is planted until it ripens, a period of eight years, when 
it produces the liquid, or pulque. When it has reached its 
growth, the leaves cease to unfold from the stalk, and 
the center assumes the shape of a church steeple, growing 
about ten inches in diameter and four or five feet high. 
Inside the center of this stalk, which is hollow, the liquid 
is contained. When the plant is ripe and the "well" full, 
the stalk splits just above the "well," or nearer to the 
top of the stalk. Men are gathering pulque every 
day. They climb through the sharp-pointed, prickly 



78 

leaves to the center of the plant and insert a tube into 
the "well," through which the pulque is sucked into a 
complete pigskin — ears, legs, nose, and all. When two 
pigskins are filled, they are secured to a horse's back and 
brought to the city and sold. The plants, after becoming 
ripe, "bleed" for five months, producing about three 
quarts of pulque a day. After the plant has ceased 
"bleeding," it is dug up and a young plant is substituted. 

The pigskin in Mexico is as much the standard of 
liquor measure as our quarter and half barrels in this 
country. The color of the pulque is that of milk, with 
a bluish shade, and has an odor like beer. It is sold and 
consumed just as it comes from the plant. 

The Mexican government clearly recognizes the evil 
to the republic resulting from this cheap, native liquor, 
and is trying to head it off, so to speak, by restricting the 
hours in which it is to be sold. The time for closing 
saloons on week days is 9 at night, and on Sundays at 
12 o'clock noon. All saloons must open on the main 
street; no back entrances. Drinking to excess is notice- 
able only among the poorer class, for during my stay in 
the republic not a single instance of drunkenness by a 
Mexican of the middle or higher class came under my 
observation. I wish I could say as much for the English- 
speaking people. 

The tortilla (tor-tee-yh) to the peone is what bread is 
to the people of this country. Along the side streets, 
every other building seems to be a tortilla bakery. These 
tortillas are rolled flat with a stone rolling pin on a 
sort of three-legged stone table, and the women do all the 
rolling while on their knees. After having rolled them thin, 
they smack them with their hands — as a finishing touch, 
no doubt. All about the low stone and ground floor 
rooms can be seen charcoal fires in the earthen buckets. 
Across the top of each is a round piece of sheet iron, 
serving the purpose of a griddle, on which the tortillas are 
placed until baked brown. 



79 

From one to half a dozen of these cakes are doubled 
up and eaten with beans, like a sandwich. Beans and 
tortillas are the chief food of the poor. 

I noticed the absence of heavy truck wagons, vans, 
etc., on the streets. Most of the furniture and similar 
articles are moved on hand-barrows, with a man at each 
end between the handles, with straps attached, which 
pass over the shoulders. It is astonishing the amount 
of freight two men can carry in this manner. However, 
there can be seen numerous truck wagons, but they are 
most all new, denoting a new era of city traffic of this 
sort. 

There are no turnpikes in Mexico to speak of — that 
is, for wagons — as all the commodities brought into the 
city by farmers, etc., are borne on horses backs. 

The principal drive of the city is Paseo de la Reforma, 
commonly known as the "Paseo," and is a wide and 
beautiful street. At the end of San Francisco street, 
where the Paseo starts, stands the statue of Charles IX., 
"the largest single moulding on the continent." Stat- 
uettes line this popular drive the entire length. Green 
circles dot this thoroughfare at frequent intervals, in the 
center of which stand statues of former great men of 
Spain and Mexico. The city has been unsparing in the 
comfort of the public, for almost the entire length of 
the Paseo, wide, high-back cemented seats are built on 
either side. Not even in Central Park, New York City, 
or Prospect Park, Brooklyn, have I seen turnouts that 
surpass those driven up and down the Paseo in the even- 
ings. This drive extends westward to Chapultepec, about 
three miles distant. 

The highest mountains I have ever looked at are located 
about 17 miles from the City of Mexico. These are Po- 
pocatapetl (smoking mountain), which is 17,782 feet in 
height, and Ixtaccihuatl (white woman), 16,060 feet. 
These mountains are white with snow the year round. 



8o 

They nestle alongside each other, like two children of 
different years. A person might not for days get a good 
view of these mountains, owing to clouds settling below 
their summits. 

Being charged 6 cents for small articles on most all 
occasions, led me to believe I was being fleeced out of a 
penny at each transaction. Later, however, I found such 
was not the case, as 6 cents in Mexico represents the 
standard of 5 cents in our country, and 12 cents our dime. 

Games of baseball were played several times a week 
during my stay in the city. One team was composed 
entirely of Mexicans and the other of Americans. The 
regulation ball grounds were used, with grand stand and 
bleachers. Sometimes as many as a thousand people 
would attend, only to see the Americans fall before the 
skill of the Mexicans. Out of a dozen games played, the 
American team did not win one. 

Winter is the dry season in Mexico, the rainy season 
(our summer) beginning the latter part of May or early 
in June, when it rains about half an hour every afternoon. 

The Mexican "Herald," an American paper, is the larg- 
est newspaper published in the republic. "Imparcial" is 
the leading morning Spanish paper, and "El Mundo" the 
afternoon. These papers, I was openly informed, are sub- 
sidized, the "Herald" receiving $12,000 a year, and "Im- 
parcial" $50,000. 

Two weeks after I had reached the city, I obtained 
employment on the "Herald." The wages paid linotype 
operators are $50 a week. That was no better than $21 
in American money, however. Regular meals at moder- 
ate priced restaurants cost from 75 cents to $1. A $3 
hat costs from $8 to $10. A pair of $3 or $3.50 shoes cost 
from $9 to $11. A pair of $6 to $8 trousers cost from 
$17 to S20, and the cheapest suit of clothes one can have 
made costs $45. 

An American will not be in the city long before it will 



8i 

occur to him that better satisfaction is found when mak- 
ing purchases at Mexican stores. The Mexican business 
man is honest. Any exception to this is because the latter 
might have been educated in the EngHsh-speaking coun- 
tries. There seemed to be few reputable American busi- 
ness men in Mexico, and the American "hobo" fraternity 
is represented in no small numbers, and none the less 
persistent. As most every one knows, President Diaz is 
partial to Americans, but I fear his friendship is abused 
in a great number of instances. 

It might seem strange, but there is no Salvation Army 
in the City of Mexico. A few years since, an edict went 
forth that no public religious demonstrations would be 
permitted. When the Salvationists are denied kneel- 
ing and praying, standing and singing on the streets, 
their usual custom of worship, their field of usefulness 
seems much curtailed. 

As a great many people know, the church and state 
in Mexico are at sword's points. The priests are pro- 
hibited from walking about the streets dressed in their 
robes, which is such a common sight in Montreal and 
Quebec. It was about this time the ringing of church 
bells was lessened. It is said until recently the church 
owned one-third the land of the republic. The govern- 
ment for some time, and at present, is confiscating some 
of this property. I was informed in one instance, where 
church land was confiscated, that it was by the utmost 
efforts on the part of the church officials that enough 
was retained of their immediate church property on 
which to build a fence. Nothing whasoever is allowed 
the church by the government for property so taken. 

No young woman of even ordinary social standing 
thinks of going out of an afternoon or evening unaccom- 
panied by a chaperon. 

It is not an uncommon sight to see on the banks of 
streams or ditches through which water runs naked chil- 



82 

dren scattered along for a hundred yards or more. An- 
other look will reveal women — their mothers — in the 
stream washing the children's clothes. Of course, there 
is only one reason for this — they have not a change of 
clothes — and the little ones wait until their clothes are 
washed and dried. Neither is it an uncommon sight to 
see women half undressed engaged in washing the other 
half of their apparel in similar streams. 

The buildings in the City of Mexico cannot compare 
with those found in numerous smaller cities of our coun- 
try. Work of modernizing the city, however, is rapidly 
going on. A fine large postoffice building has just been 
finished. Wherever possible the streets are being widened, 
and instances of modern advancement are seen in more 
than one part of the city. 

The people of Mexico do not directly enjoy open fran- 
chise as we do in the States. The President is elected 
in about the same manner as our Senators. The Execu- 
tive of Mexico is unpopular with the masses, but seems 
to be satisfactory to the business element of the republic. 
One thing is certain, there is no doubt about the Presi- 
dent ruling with an iron hand. 

The Mexican people retire at an early hour and get up 
early in the morning. At 9:30 o'clock in the evening 
few people can be seen about the streets, and they remain 
so until morning. 

There can be seen on the various street car lines of 
the city almost any day, a car bearing a coffin, going in the 
direction of one of the many cemeteries. Behind the 
''hearse" car are from one to four other cars, which are 
occupied by mourners and friends This is the almost 
exclusive custom of burial in the City of Mexico. 

I was told Dolores Cemetery, in which most of the 
poorer classes are buried, is one of the largest graveyards 
in the world. I witnessed the lowering into graves of 
several coffins, but failed to see a priest, for only the well- 



83 

to-do have services at the grave. The "hearse" cars are 
graded. For the poor, or peons, this car is generally an 
old, rickety, poorly painted horse car, while those used 
in conveying the bodies of the better class present a more 
respectacle appearance. 

My friend v^hom I took with me from El Paso was 
unable to obtain work here, and he left for San Antonio. 

BULL FIGHT. 

I, like most Americans who visit the city for any length 
of time, attended a bull fight, which took place at the 
Plaza de Toros de Mexico. I will try and give a detailed 
description of what I saw, noting the different partici- 
pants, and their several duties in this unfair and cruel 
"sport." 

The arena is round, several hundred feet across, seats 
rising upward all around. Outside the first row of seats 
a fence is built around the ring. This fence is used as a 
means of escape when the fighters are pursued by the 
bull. The price of seats range from $i to $5. The $1 
and $1.50 seats are located on the sunny side of the 
arena. Those would be called the bleachers in our 
country. 

From 12 to 16 athletes take part in a bull fight. The 
most skilled are the matadors, who also receive the highest 
salary. As many matadors take part in a fight as there 
are bulls to be killed, which number from six to eight. 
Then there are four banderilleros, who throw the darts 
in the bull's neck. There are also two piccadors, who 
ride the horses, and who sink spears in the bull's neck 
when the latter attacks the horse. 

The pen or corral containing the bulls is located on 
the sunny side of the arena. A bugle blast serves as a 
signal to the corral keeper to admit a bull to the ring. 
Just as the animal leaves the corral, which is back of 
the tiers of seats, and before entering the ring, a dart, 



84 

or, properly speaking, a banderilla, is jabbed in his neck 
close to his shoulders. To the end of the dart are tied 
two ribbon streamers, which wave over the animal's back 
as he madly enters. These darts are 24 or 26 inches 
long, with hooks in the end, like a double fishhook. Fas- 
tened to the end of the dart are short, fuzzy-cut tissue 
paper streamers. The color of all the animals used in 
the fights I witnessed was black. 

The bugle sounds. The piccadors are stationed on 
one side some distance apart, the matadors and bander- 
illeros at the shady end of the ring. Enter toro, looking 
wildly from side to side, then in front, as if undecided 
whether to tackle the horses or start after the men at the 
other end of the arena. Often the animal is scared by 
the terraces of humanity rising on each side of the ring, 
and he pauses. The ten or twelve men on foot, who are 
donned in clothes rivaling in color those of a rainbow, 
with red, green and yellow robes in their hands or thrown 
over their arms, start in the direction of the awed animal. 

The first order of a bullfight after entering the ring, 
is an attack on the horses, which are blindfolded. The 
robes in the hands of the athletes are being flaunted in 
the bull's face. He makes a lunge, with his head down, 
at his nearest tormentor; but the athlete jumps quickly 
to his rear. Before his face are two or three more flaunt- 
ing robes. When the bull would make a dash for the 
man nearest him, he, like the first, sidesteps, and more 
robes were spread before his nose. All the time the bull's 
rage is increasing. The tormentors were trying all this 
time to enrage the bull to gore the horses. Finally, the 
athletes, when pursued by the bull, would scamper in 
the direction of the horse. The bull, mad enough to gore 
a moving engine, with head down, rushes to one of the 
blindfolded horses, plunging his horns in its side or under- 
part. In the hands of the rider, or piccador, is a pole 
about eight feet long, with a sharp spear at the end of it. 



8s 

He jabs this spear in the neck of the bull to prevent him 
from goring the horse to the ground. With the sharp 
spear being bored deeper and deeper in the bull's neck, 
the latter is forced to withdraw his horns. A bugle is 
again blown, and the horses limp out of the arena. 

From the rents made by the bull's horns in the side 
or belly, dangle part of the insides of the horse, midway 
between the body and the ground, with which the horse's 
hind legs come in contact with most every step. At the 
next fight the same horse will be entered, the exposed 
parts having been shoved inside in the meantime and the 
gored flesh sewed up. These animals will be re-entered 
until the crowd demands a fresh horse. 

The piccador wears a complete coat of mail, and it re- 
quires the aid of two or three men to lift him on and off 
his horse. This protection is worn to save him from 
being gored to death should the bull succeed in forcing 
the horse to the ground. If the piccador is unseated, this 
counts against him. 

The fight has just begun. As soon as the horses have 
left the ring, the flaunting of the robes in the bull's face 
is resumed. Now comes the banderillero's part in the 
bull-murdering event. As I have said above, there are 
four banderilleros, each supplied with two of the 26-inch 
darts. The placing of the dart in the shoulders of the 
bull when the animal is in a position other than that 
of running directly at the banderillero, is considered slov- 
enly and counts against the skill of the performer; al- 
most a disqualification, in fact. At this stage of the fight 
the bull might be standing still, as is often the case. The 
dart thrower gets directly in front of the animal, at a 
distance of from 10 to 16 feet. He holds out his hands, 
in each of which is a dart. He moves them up and down 
for the purpose of starting the bull toward him. The" 
bull starts. When within about six feet of the bull, 
the darts are thrown at the animal's shoulders, and the 



86 

athlete nimbly sidesteps about the time the bull expected 
to reach him with his horns. In most instances the dart 
reaches the place intended. Sometimes an audible moan 
is heard coming from the bull. Six more of these darts 
are yet to be jabbed in the animal's shoulders, making 
nine in all, which is done in the same manner as the 
first two. When the nine darts have been jabbed in the 
shoulders of the bull, the neck, withers and forelegs are 
red with blood to the hoof. The running about and toss- 
ing of the animal keeps the darts constantly tearing the 
flesh. Often the darts drop to the ground, having torn 
the flesh completely out. 

The robe flaunting still continues — never ceasing from 
the time the bull enters the ring until he is dead. The 
matador's turn has now come. In his left hand he 
carries a short red flag, and in his right hand a sword. 
The bull, becoming weakened by the loss of blood caused 
by the darts in his neck, loses some of his former vigor. 
After a short period of long-robe flaunting, these are 
put aside, and the nimble matador, with the small red 
flag, holds it sometimes within a fev/ inches of the bull's 
nose. The bull will make a lunge at his tormentor, but 
he is at his side. At a time when the bull is standing 
still, and the matador is directly in front of him, the 
sword will be seen raised and pointed in the direction 
of the bull's shoulders. The matador now aims, and 
quickly the right arm is over the head of the animal, and 
the sword is plunged between the bull's shoulders to the 
hilt. This w^ork must be done instantly, as the bull lunges 
at the man before him. If the matador's stab proves 
good, the sword is buried in the bull. 

In a moment blood is seen pouring out of the animal's 
mouth. He begins walking toward the fence, looking 
fully whipped. The volume of blood running out of his 
mouth increases. Still he is tormented by the flaunting 
robes. He stands a moment. Then, as if to lay down. 



87 

he drops to his knees. He remains in this position for 
a few moments. The red flags are still being waved 
before his nose. His hind legs seem to bend under him 
like shoelaces. There he lays, his mouth to the ground 
and besmeared with his own blood. The matador puts 
his hand to his side. A short knife is seen. Takipg 
aim at a point immediately back of the horns, a quick, 
forceful jab is made, and the animal stretches out at full 
length — his sufferings ended. 

Three mules enter from a passageway under the judge's 
stand, with ribbons streaming from each side. A strong 
chain is rattling behind them. They are driven to the 
dead bull, and the chain fastened about his horns. The 
driver calls on the mules to start, and across the ring 
they drag the dead animal. 

As soon as the carcass is outside, the bugle is blown 
for another fight. The gored horses (sometimes the bull 
attacks the two) are in their positions, the athletes are 
spread about the same end of the arena as before, and a 
fresh victim enters. As I have said before, from six to 
eight bulls are killed in an afternoon. Often from two to 
six attempts are made before the matador's sword reaches 
the right place. But a first-class matador seldom makes 
more than two efforts, and often is successful in his first 
attempt. 

Should a bull refuse to gore a horse, the crowd clamors 
for the bull's removal. The plunging of the bull's horns 
into the body of the horse seems to be the popular part 
of a bullfight. 

Bullfighters are easily distinguished from other citizens. 
They wear a tuft of hair at the back of the head from 
three to four inches long, a^^ I when in the ring, they 
wear it hanging down, with braid attached to it. Be- 
sides, they are smoothly shaven, while other Mexicans, 
with the exception of priests, wear beards of some kind, 
mustaches predominating. 



VERACRUZ. 

On the 4th of December, I took a run down to Vera- 
cruz, 264 miles southeasterly, the terminus of the Mexican 
Railway, owned by Englishmen. The ties on which the 
rails rest are iron. These are not solid, as one might be- 
lieve. Their thickness is not more than half an inch, and 
they are the shape of the ordinary wooden tie, with the 
exception that the ends are round. No spikes or bolts 
are used in fastening the rail to them ; they fit in a groove. 
When laying rails, the lips on each side of the groove are 
bent back far enough to admit of the bottom of the rail. 
When the rail is in the groove, the lips are pressed back. 
The trainmen on this railroad are all Mexicans, and, like 
on the street cars in the city, no stations were called out. 

Just before descending from the high plateau over 
which we had been riding into the tropics, a grade of 
2,000 feet is descended in a distance of 13 miles. At the 
bottom of the incline is located Orizaba, the first city in 
the tropics. Further on, 82 miles, is Veracruz. 

I found in this Gulf city the most modern docks in 
North America, the last place one would expect to find 
improvements years ahead of any port on this continent. 
The harbor is solidly walled with stone and concrete. 
The docks are constructed of steel. The derricks and 
cranes used in loading and unloading vessels are run by 
hydraulic pressure. 

About two miles out from the docks is built a stone 
sea wall, about 20 feet thick, 12 feet above the water, and 
three-quarters of a mile in length. This wall makes the 
entrance to the harbor narrow and deep ; besides, vessels 
anchored in the inner harbor are protected from rough 
seas. It is remarkable tha': there is no tide at this port. 

In the harbor was anciiored Mexico's navy, which 
was composed of six vessels. This small navy forcibly 
brought to my mind the saving of money to Mexico and 
the other Latin-American countries, due to the Monroe 
Doctrine. 



89 

I found a stone walk or promenade, a mile in length, 
fringed on each side with cocoaniit trees most all the way. 
The trees bore nuts at that time. I counted those on 
several trees, and they variously numbered from lo to 
40. The trees are Hmbless for a distance of about 20 
feet, while the top is bushy. 

The weather was very warm, and a standing collar I 
wore wilted to the shirt band ; and this in the month of 
December. 

Outside its splendid harbor and modern docks, little 
up-to-dateness is to be found in Veracruz. I was told 
it has a population of some 60,000 inhabitants. Horse 
street cars, unclean streets, no sewerage, and poor build- 
ings are the conditions to be found in Mexico's chief 
seaport city. With the absence of sanitary measures, to- 
gether with the very hot weather, it is easily understood 
why Veracruz is a yellow fever incubator. 

In the case of the up-to-date docks, the government 
bore the expense, while the unclean condition of the city 
is no doubt due to lax city officials. 

I sat down at a table in the Mexico Hotel to dinner. 
A waiter placed a bill of fare before me which was 
printed in Spanish. He could speak no English, nor I 
Spanish ; neither could the proprietor or the other waiters. 
There I sat. The waiter walked to another part of the 
dining-room and stopped at a table at which a priest was 
seated. Shortly, the priest came over to where I sat. He 
addressed me in English, asking if I was in trouble. I 
told him how matters stood. He said he would gladly 
help me all he could. He then interpreted to me the 
Spanish-printed bill of fare. We chatted while I ate. 
After finishing, I tried to pay both his and my bills, but 
he brushed my money aside and paid both. 

He was an American, and born in the Keystone State. 
After dinner, he engaged a Mexican to row us to the 
outer wall, and we walked over it. After returning from 



90 

the wall trip, we walked about the docks and streets, and 
later ate supper at the hotel where we had met at noon 
time. Like the dinner, he would not allow me to settle 
my bill. We both boarded the same train in the evening 
going in the direction of the City of Mexico, he getting 
off at Cordova, 66 miles from Veracruz, and I continued 
on to the capital. He was parish priest at Cordova, and 
invited me to visit that place before leaving the republic. 

CORDOVA, 

I worked in the City of Mexico until the 3d of January, 
1904, when my itinerary called me to "move on." 

One month after saying good-bye to the parish priest, 
I kept my promise to visit him. It was on a Sunday after- 
noon when the train arrived in Cordova. A drizzling rain 
was falling, the first rainfall I had seen since September, 
during my stay in Denver, Col. 

After eating supper at a hotel, the landlord sent a boy 
with me to the parish house. Attendants announced to 
the priest that I had called to see him. Shortly, the priest 
appeared, and invited me upstairs. He was enjoying his 
evening meal, and invited me to join him. Just having 
finished supper at the hotel, of course I dechned. He 
asked where my baggage was. I said down at the hotel. 
"At the hotel ! I thought you were going to stay at the 
parish house," he added, seeming put out by the course I 
had decided upon. 

After supper, he escorted me to the Cathedral. Enter- 
ing from the parish house, the lobby of the Cathedral was 
floored with mosaic tiling. He told me he had laid every 
piece of it himself. Proceeding a short distance, we en- 
tered a private apartment of the church building, stopping 
before a large, steel safe. He was soon working on the 
combination. Then he opened the safe door. Herein 
were contained the treasures of the church, which he 
freely pointed out and showed to me. 



91 

From this apartment he led the way to the main part 
of the building. On one side and extending to the arched 
ceiling was a scaffold. A light was lit, which revealed 
gold leaf on the ceiling and on the sides of about half 
this large room. This accounted for the scaffolding. 

Several years have passed since the first gold leaf was 
placed on the ceiling and sides of this cathedral. When the 
quantity of gold leaf he has on hand is used he is gener- 
ally forced to stop work until money is raised with which 
to buy more. Then this is put on. Maybe a period 
of six months or a year intervenes before he obtains 
additional gold leaf. When I was there, the price of gold 
leaf had risen so high that he could not afford to buy it, 
and he said he would be compelled to wait until the price 
dropped before work could be resumed. But no matter 
how long the period of enforced delays, the scaffolding 
remains, and it will continue there until the Cathedral is 
gold leafed from floor to dome. 

When he received the appointment of parish priest, he 
found all the church buildings under his charge in a 
dilapidated condition. Worst of all, the church treasury 
was depleted. 

One of the towers of the Cathedral had been blown off 
some years before. He had not been in charge more 
than a year when he undertook the work of rebuilding the 
tower. He solicited the aid of his parishioners in this 
effort. The part they performed was carrying stone, 
sand for mortar, etc. In the meantime, by requesting a 
donation of a penny from each attendant at Sunday morn- 
ing services, he had raised a little fund to meet the ex- 
pense occasioned. Later he requested a two-cent contri- 
bution each week from the attendants. This increased 
the fund considerably. Finally, steel beams were un- 
loaded in front of the church. Later workmen were en-, 
gaged in tearing down the ragged part of the tower. The 
priest was the busiest man among the workmen. Over- 



92 

alls took the place of robes. A derrick was fastened to 
the tower. Stone and mortar was hoisted up. Then the 
iron beams. Later the steel skeleton of the, new tower 
was pointing heavenward. Nine months after the first 
effort was made to rehabilitate the tower it was com- 
pleted. The church history showed that it took the Mex- 
icans 21 years to build what the American priest did in 
nine months, with the handicap of an empty treasury. 

He exacted of me a promise to be his guest at dinner 
the following day — a regular Spanish dinner, he said. 
The meal consisted of half a dozen kinds of vegetables, 
all boiled together with meat, nearly the same as a New 
England dinner. He then wished me to be present at 
supper. Sitting around the table at the evening meal were 
nine men. Eight of these were priests, myself making 
the ninth man. The parish priest was the only one among 
the clergymen who could speak English. Six of the 
priests were Mexicans, one Spaniard. The parish priest 
was the medium through whom conversation was car- 
ried on. One of the younger priests asked the American 
if I was a priest. This question was asked owing to my 
wearing no beard. As bull fighters and priests are the 
only classes of men in Mexico who are cleanly shaven, 
I felt complimented. 

There are always about half a dozen young priests 
in the Cordova parish, the head ofiicials of the church 
recognizing the valuable training they receive under the 
American. 

Moreover this clergyman is a public benefactor. In 
fact, I was informed by an American resident of this 
place that if the parish priest left, the best of Cordova 
would go with him, as most of the good that is there had 
sprung from, and was embodied in, this Christian man. 

He has himself established and maintains a public 
library. This library contains some of the works of 
Longfellow, Tennyson, Shakespeare, and other popular 



93 

English writers, and many Spanish works. Both Spanish 
and EngHsh newspapers and magazines also are at the 
disposal of the public. 

Another arm of his philanthrophy is represented in an 
orphanage. A short time after his coming to Cordova 
he undertook to fit up a building where the numerous 
orphans about the city would receive proper care and 
training. There are no orphan children to be found in 
Cordova now who have not a place to sleep. 

He still crowded upon himself the principalship of a 
school. He also maintains this means of education. Part 
of the day he is seen in his clerical robes, and again in 
overalls. The support and maintenance of the institu- 
tions mentioned represents, no doubt, the smaller amount 
of good he is doing, as in a private and secret manner, 
men of his stamp "do not let the right hand know what 
the left hand doeth." 

He has been in Mexico some 20 odd years, and says 
he would not care to live outside the tropics. Speaking 
Spanish for nearly half of his life, it has become as 
natural to him as his native tongue. He is a noble 
gentleman of whom Americans may well feel proud. 

In this part of Mexico is located the best coffee grow- 
ing section of the country. Coffee groves, to one un- 
familiar with them, look like a tropical thicket. The 
coffee bushes are from four to seven feet in height, and 
are planted in rows from 8 to 10 feet apart. It is neces- 
sary to keep the ripening coffee from the sun. Banana 
plants are mingled in with the coff'ee bushes for the pur- 
pose of furnishing shade. In five weeks after the ba- 
nanas are planted they will grow to a height of from six 
to ten feet. Often orange trees are to be found through 
the coffee groves. If the coffee "cherry" is exposed to 
the sun, the quality of the coffee when ripe is inferior. 
Between the rows of coffee bushes there is not to be found 
a spear of grass, or a broken twig — as clean, in fact, as 



94 

rows between vegetables in a well-kept garden. The 
coffee ripens during the months of December and Jan- 
uary, and it was being gathered while I was in Cordova. 

Located here are large coffee works. The coffee is 
picked off the bushes by hand. The coffee "cherry" is 
about the size and color of our red cherry, and contains 
two coffee beans. After having been picked, it is put 
into bags, and two of these are put across a horse's back. 
While I was looking about the works, some two dozen 
horses loaded with coffee bags came in the enclosure, 
with two men in charge of the pack train. The bags were 
unfastened from the pack saddle and lifted on scales and 
weighed. It was amusing to see the horses crowding and 
backing in toward the scales to be among the first re- 
lieved of their burdens. Two bags weigh about 300 
pounds. 

After the coffee had been weighed, the bags were 
carried up one flight of stairs and emptied into a large 
bin. Into this a stream of water runs. By opening a 
small gate the water forces the coffee cherry into a 
hopper. This hopper contains rollers, and on these rollers 
are teeth, something like on a potato grater, only longer. 
They break the shuck of the cherry. The shuck falls to 
the floor below, and the coffee beans into a chute, which 
empties into a stone vat. The coffee remains in this vat 
24 hours when it is hoisted by elevator buckets onto the 
flat roof of the building. It remains on the roof 24 hours 
to dry, as the beans are very wet and slimy. Then it is 
shoveled into another elevator, which carries and empties 
the coffee into steam cylinders, used for drying purposes. 
After passing through the drying process, the coffee is 
transferred to hulling cylinders. After having been 
hulled, it passes into small revolving screens containing 
three or four different sized compartments, out of which 
the grains drop. It is then taken to the picking room, 
where 500 to 600 women and girls pick it clean. Then it 



95 

is ready for shipment. The hulls are used for fuel in the 
engine, and there is enough to furnish steam to run all 
the machinery. 

The manager, an American from New York City, told 
me they could not begin to fill the coffee orders they re- 
ceive. He also stated that American coffee dealers, as a 
rule, do not buy the best grades. The better grades, he 
said, finds a ready sale at Hamburg, Berlin and other 
German cities, from where some of it is shipped to other 
foreign ports. 

This section of Mexico is also the home of the pine- 
apple, orange, lemon, banana, and numerous other va- 
rieties of fruit which never get beyond the tropical zone. 

I had no previous knowledge that monkeys were to be 
found in North America, but many are to be found in the 
tropical forests not far from Cordova. 

The social condition of the poorer class in this place 
was much better than that of the City of Mexico, just at 
it generally is in our large and small cities. The absence 
of pulque in this section of the republic might account 
for this in a great measure. The pulque plant does not 
grow in the tropics. 

At the base of a low range of summer-green hills runs 
quite a large stream of water; at a shallow place I saw 
several women standing in the middle of the river, their 
skirts turned almost to the waist line, washing clothes, 
using a slanting rock for a washboard. 

In the Plaza at Cordova grows a royal palm, the only 
one I have ever seen. For a tree, this specie presents 
a most pleasing sight to look upon. The trunk of the 
palm is as large as a salt barrel, and tapers upward 
about 25 feet to half this size. Then the long, wide 
leaves branch out, the bushy top measuring from 16 to 
20 feet from the furthermost point of the limbs. 

During the day street car fare is 5 cents, but 10 cents 
is charged after dark. They evidently do not spend all of 
it in furnishing light for the cars. 



96 

Cordova is what might properly be termed a quaint old 
city. The buildings here are mostly the one-story kind, 
with low, tiled roofs extending over the sidewalks. The 
sidewalks are narrow, and the roof affords shelter from 
rain and sun while inside or while walking on the streets. 

Americans whom I met in the tropics told me they had 
been victims of yellow fever, and some had suffered from 
the same disease as many as three times. They seemed to 
treat this deadly fever very lightly. 

CUERNAVACA* 

After a few days' stay in Cordova, I bid my final adieu 
to the parish priest and returned to the City of Mexico. 
The next day I boarded an early train for Cuernavaca, 74 
miles distant by rail. The distance as the crow flies, how- 
ever, is about 30 miles. I have traveled over a number 
of mountain railroads, but none were more snake-like 
than this one. From the summit of the mountain to 
Cuernavaca, a distance of 25 miles, the drop is over 5,000 
feet. Over this grape-vine-like road, for the 74 miles, 
there is neither trestle crossed nor tunnel passed through. 
Perhaps this is the only mountain railway without either 
trestle or tunnel. 

The leading hotel at Cuernavaca is conducted by a man 
from Boston, Mass., and Americans are to be seen at 
every turn at this hostelry. 

This city was the former home of Cortez, Maximilan 
and other equally prominent Mexicans and Spaniards of 
early times. 

One little thing that struck me as somewhat unusual, 
was a mother walking briskly (Mexicans half run when 
carrying burdens) along the street, on her head a large 
basket of vegetables, and a shawl slung across her should- 
ers to carry her baby. The youngster was contentedly 
nursing as the mother hurried along. Later I found this 
was the usual custom among the peons — attending their 
motherly duties while working. 



97 

It was the 6th day of January when I returned to the 
capital. A very beautiful view from the summit can be 
had of the city. Lined along the base of the mountain 
were long rows of pink flowers. The peach orchards 
were in blossom. 

GUADALAJARA, 

The following day I took my final departure from the 
City of Mexico, where church bells ring all day and si- 
lence reigns at night. 

I started for Guadalajara, the second city of the repub- 
lic, 380 miles northwesterly. This city has the reputation 
of harboring a greater number of "respectable" fugitives 
from the United States than any city in Mexico. 

Guadalajara is the capital of the State of Jalisco, the 
richest agricultural State of Mexico. While the buildings 
in this city are of the same style of architecture as that 
of all Mexican cities, still there is something about the 
place that seems different. The population of this place 
will not perhaps exceed 150,000, but distributed through- 
out the territory in which this number of people live are 
20 plazas, or parks, arcades, etc., which tend to make one 
glad they visited the place. High quality pottery 
is manufactured here on a large scale. The department 
stores are good, besides stores of other kinds are up to 
date. 

Orange trees, to a degree, are the shade trees of the 
city. Some of these bore ripe fruit at that time, and blos- 
soms for another year's crop were in evidence — ripe 
fruit and blossoms on trees at the same time. 

Here, too, it might seem, the parish priest of Cordova 
obtained his idea of gold-leafing his cathedral. 

Visiting cathedrals and churches is the first order on 
the list of attractions in Mexico. From floor to dome 
the cathedral in Guadalajara is gold-leafed, with blue 
stars at close intervals, which produce a pronounced ar- 



98 

tistic effect. While the cathedral in the City of Mexico 
is much larger than this one, from an artistic viewpoint, 
it, and those I have visited in other places, are compara- 
tively speaking, as shelf-worn goods to newly woven nov- 
elties. Added to the gold-leaf and star effect, are alabaster 
altars and gold railings, and neatness and cleanliness are 
noticeable at every turn. 

The city is lighted by electricity, but the street railway 
system is still operated with horses. This is owing to 
the present street railway company asking such an exor- 
bitant price from promoters who wish to install an electric 
system. 

Rummage sales ! A trip to Thieves' Market will place 
the word rummage on a high literary plane. Staples, 
broken hames, old shoes and sandals, cleats, clouts and 
clevises, broken buggy shafts, pieces of harness, rusty 
stirrups, old saddles, frying pans, worn-out sewing ma- 
chines — junk junk, in fact. If it is stealing to take the 
stuff to be seen in Thieves' Market, it should be termed 
petit larceny boiled down. They have their eating places 
inside this square, their piece of canvas, used for shade, 
drinking places — their home. Low characters, I was in- 
formed, sell what they pick up and pilfer to the "business 
men" of Thieves' Market. Articles are patched, mended, 
made over, and sold, if a chance of sale arises. 

There are two weekly English papers published in this 
city. The editor of one of the papers, I was told, does 
not own a font of type, a press, a piece of paper, nor the 
table on which he writes, and even the pencil he uses is a 
borrowed one. I did not think this was a good place to 
look for work. 

THE '^NIAGARA OF MEXICO/' 

About 25 miles eastward from Guadalajara is a place 
called Juanatlan. The Rio Grande River (not the one 
that forms the border of the same name) flows through 



99 

this place. There is a ledge of rock some 300 feet wide 
over which the water falls, 70 feet. But it cannot com- 
pare in any way with the Falls of Niagara. Just above 
the falls is a water race, used to convey water to run 
machinery to generate electricity, with which the city 
of Guadalajara is lighted. A large cotton mill is located 
at this place, the machinery also being run by water 
power. 

CELAYA* 

I returned from the "Niagara of Mexico" on a horse 
car to the railroad, where I connected with a train going 
in the direction of the City of Mexico. Two hundred 
miles north of the City, the Mexican Central and National 
railroads cross, and where the two roads meet is Celaya. 
I got off here to connect with a train on the National 
road the next morning. Among the passengers from 
Guadalajara to Celaya I met an American engineer. We 
put up at the same hotel, occupying the same room, which 
contained two beds. We settled our bill before retiring. 
He, like most all Americans who have been in Mexico for 
some time, spoke good Spanish, and paid for the room. 
The room was $2.50, and the clerk told him the charge 
for the first man who entered the room was $1.75, and 
the second man 75 cents. He was the first to enter, but, 
of course, we split the $2.50. 

The train on the National railroad was due to pass 
through Celaya at 5 o'clock in the morning. I was at 
the depot before it arrived, and later aboard, with a ticket 
for San Antonio, Texas, which place I reached after a 
36-hour ride. Here also street car fare is 5 cents during 
the day and 10 cents after dark. 

September 27 in Mexico is celebrated like Fourth of 
July here, and on that day, I was informed, it is not safe 
for a Spaniard to go upon streets where Mexicans con- 
gregate. Mexicans entertain no love for a Spaniard. 



LofC, 



100 
SAN ANTONIO, TEX. 

Laredo, Tex., is the American border place reached 
when returning from Mexico over the National Railway. 
The distance from Laredo to San Antonio is 154 miles. 
The land through which the railroad passes is used for 
early vegetable raising. The country is semi-arid, and 
for this reason, for miles and miles, windmills used for 
pumping water for the garden truck, are thickly scattered 
over this territory. 

San Antonio, with a population of about 65,000 inhab- 
itants, is situated in a productive cotton-growing section 
of Texas. The soil is black as coal and very rich. The 
men engaged in farming are mostly Germans. 

Here again I came in contact with the "silent sufferers" 
in considerable numbers, perhaps equal to the number 
to be seen in Phoenix, Ariz. At the time I stopped at 
this city it was experiencing a severe commercial setback, 
caused by a yellow fever epidemic a few months previous. 

There is no better laid out or cleaner kept city of its 
size anywhere in the country than San Antonio. About 
two miles from the city is a splendid park and zoological 
garden. In this park are several large warm springs. 
The volume of water continually arising from the ground 
at this place forms a fair-sized river. The city is built 
on each side of this stream, affording a good sewerage 
outlet. 

The historical Alamo in this place proves a magnet to 
visitors. This is a one-story adobe building containing a 
number of rooms, with a ground floor. It was used as 
a fort by the Texans in their warfare with the Mexicans, 
and it was in this building w^here the massacre of 200 
brave Texans took place. 

The building was besieged by 8,000 Mexicans. The 
Texans were commanded by Captain Bowie, who drew 
a line across the floor of the Alamo. On one side of this 
line were to stand those who wished to remain and fight 



lOI 

to the death, on the other side those who wished to es- 
cape, as there was yet a chance. xA^mong the number 
of the besieged Texans was the unyielding Davey Crock- 
ett, who was sick with fever. When the captain drew 
the line, Crockett requested that his cot be moved on the 
side of the fighters, likewise every man in the Alamo was 
found on the fighting side of the line. As the Alamo 
sheltered none but the brave, the 200 Texans were put 
to death by the Mexicans. The mind reverting to the 
account of this almost fanatical bravery, creates a filing- 
like sensation at the roots of the hair. 

AUSTIN, TEX, 

I next visited Austin, the capital of the Lone Star 
State. Austin and San Antonio are at the eastern terminus 
of the arid country. Here again the consumptives come to 
seek prolongation of life. As Colorado Springs and Den- 
ver are the first stations in the "tuberculine belt" in the 
North, San Antonio and Austin holds relatively the same 
positions in the South. 

The largest State building to be found throughout our 
country is located in Austin. This is built of brown gran- 
ite, and it is said the State did not pay a cent in cash for 
its construction. A large tract of land in the Panhandle 
country of Texas was deeded by the State to parties who 
built the State house and accepted the land in payment. 
The building is said to have cost $3,000,000. 

HOUSTON, TEX. 

The yellow fever epidemic at San Antonio and the 
tidal wave at Galveston a few years since, places Hous- 
ton at the head of Texas' cities. Although situated 40 
miles from the Gulf, being the railway center of Texas 
offsets the lack of seaport advantages. The business 
buildings are good, and its congested street traffic and 
the number of people passing to and fro over the side- 
walks give it a metropolitan appearance. 



102 

GALVESTON, TEX. 

I found upon visiting Galveston the building of a great 
wall on the ocean side of the island, to prevent a recur- 
rence of the awful disaster to life and property caused by 
a tidal wave a few years ago. Piles are driven into the 
ground 37 feet, on top of which cement was placed, and 
on this foundation the wall is built of concrete. The wall 
on the city side is square, and on the ocean side bell- 
shaped. At the bottom, the wall is some 13 feet wide 
and 6 feet at the top. The sloping nature of the wall on 
the ocean side is to break the force of the water. In 
front of the wall on the same side are large granite 
rocks weighing tons, loosely scattered the wall's length. 
These rocks will settle in the sandy beach, thereby serv- 
ing the purpose of an additional foundation. The wall 
is about 12 feet high and 13 feet wide at the base, and is to 
be about a mile and a half in length. I was told a ter- 
race was to be built from the ground to the top of the 
wall on the city side, and used as a promenade. This 
wall would be of little use as a protection to our Northern 
seaport cities if they were so situated as Galveston, as the 
waves at high tide would override the wall. At Galves- 
ton, however, there is but six inches of tide. 

The city is situated on a flat, sandy island, not over a 
mile wide. On one side Is the ocean, and on the other a 
bay. The docks and large cotton warehouses, grain ele- 
vators, etc., are located on the bay; there are no docks 
on the ocean side of the Island. 

A bedroom window kept open during the night will 
cause the bed clothing to become damp from the spray. 

I returned to Houston and found myself in possession 
of $3.50, and used $2.50 of this to secure a room for a 
week. The remaining dollar would not last longer than 
one day, and there seemed no work to be had. I wired 
a sister in a Northern State: "Stranded. Send $50 by 
telegraph." 



I03 

The next evening a man asked me if I would work 
for him. I had ten cents in my pocket when I went to 
breakfast, with which I bought a cup of coffee and 
doughnuts, the cheapest article of food on the bill of fare. 
At noon time I asked the foreman of the composing room 
if he could advance me 25 cents with which to buy lunch, 
as I had not a cent. He kindly gave me the amount 
asked for. At quitting time I was compelled to ask for 
an additional 50 cents for supper and breakfast, with 
which he complied smilingly. The man for whom I had 
worked returned the following day, and I was paid for 
the previous day's work. 

The day following I received a reply to my telegram, 
directing me to the bank to which the money had been 
sent. I lost no time in reaching this money institution. 
When I presented the telegram to the paying teller, he 
referred me to the cashier. That gentleman said he had 
received a telegram from a small, obscure bank located 
somewhere 'way up in North Dakota, directing him to 
pay some one $50. He further added he knew nothing 
about this bank or place from which the telegram was 
sent, and did not care to honor it. He then asked me if 
I was acquainted in Houston. I told him I knew several 
printers employed on the papers. He suggested I at least 
get some one to identify me. The $50 seemed far from 
being a "bird in the hand." 

I left the bank and brought up in the composing room 
of an afternoon newspaper, where two men were em- 
ployed, whom I slightly knew, one of them being the fore- 
man. I showed him the telegram, and told him how mat- 
ters stood at the bank. He told me to wait until 
the city editor came in. When the editor made his ap- 
pearance, the foreman made him acquainted with my pre- 
dicament. The editor asked me for personal identifica- 
tion. I showed him my union card and a number of 
write-ups I had received about my trip up to that time. 



104 

He said he would do all he could to help me. He further 
told me to return to the bank, and added that he would 
endeavor to make matters clear to the cashier over the 
'phone during the interval. 

Upon re-entering the bank, I walked to the cashier's 
window. I asked him if he had received word from the 
editor. He answered in the affirmative, icily. He con- 
tinued by saying that he did not care to have anything 
more to do with this matter. For some reason he 
changed his mind, and looked as if he were meditating. 
Then he slowly walked in the direction of the money 
drawer, pausing momentarily between steps. I saw a 
$20 bill in his hand, then a ten, another ten, and still an- 
other ten-dollar bill. He returned to the window as 
slowly as he went away from it. He began to strip off 
the bills and count them, then placed the four bills in 
front of me. When he had finishing counting, he said 
this was the most unsatisfactory business transaction he 
had engaged in for some time, and concluded with saying 
that he had cashed the order under protest, and would 
positively have nothing to do in future with orders like 
mine. It occurred to me silence was golden, and allowed 
him to do the talking. I gathered the bills, counted 
them, and left the bank with buoyed spirits. 

Up to this time a sufficient amount of small good 
things passing down Fortune's chute seemed to have 
found lodgment in my measure. In this respect, Texas 
was the State wherein I had figured on a down grade, 
with the wind at my back, as it is a good printing State 
at most times. Two days' work was all T did in San 
Antonio; nothing in Austin; nothing in Galveston, and 
but one day in Houston. 

I do not charge this $50 against my trip, however, for, 
had I not prevailed upon my friend in El Paso to accom- 
pany me to the City of Mexico, whose expense while 
with me amounted to that sum, I would not have been 



105 

forced to borrow. Besides, if the reader will permit me 
to get beyond my story, a check for that amount was 
awaiting me in Washington from my friend, where he 
knew my trip ended. 

NEW ORLEANS, LA, 

The evening of the day on which I received the $50 
I bought a ticket to New Orleans, where I remained 
a week, without being able to obtain work, owing to 
there being an unusually large number of printers in 
the Crescent City, to be present for Mardi Gras festival. 

The marked distinction in the appearance of the 
French and American quarters of New Orleans strikes 
a stranger forcibly. In the former, low, poorly painted 
houses, shutters hanging on one hinge, dirty, cobble-stone 
paved streets, while in the American quarter were large, 
airy, bright-painted houses, well lighted, clean asphalted 
streets, with park circles and squares placed at short 
distances. I found in the Crescent City the finest mag- 
nolia trees I have seen anywhere, some of them being 
18 inches thick and from 30 to 50 feet in height. 

An effort to establish a sewerage system in this city 
is now under way, and it will require seven years' time 
to complete the work. As is generally known, the city 
is several feet below the Mississippi River, and for this 
reason the sewerage will of necessity be forced through 
pipes, which are to empty into a pit, and out of this 
pumped into the river. With the exception of Pennsyl- 
vania avenue, Washington, D. C, there is to be found 
in no city a principal business street to compare with 
Canal street, New Orleans. This thoroughfare back in 
the early '90's, was paved with flagstones from 3 to 6 
feet square, which, owing to the spongy nature of the 
earth, made it difficult and unsafe for horses to travel, 
as one side would be forced into the ground by a heav- 
ily loaded vehicle, while the other side might be 6 to 



io6 

8 inches higher. Now it is asphalted, with four street 
car tracks on it, and with ample room for street traffic 
on either side. 

The cemeteries interested me here. A striking con- 
trast between the old St. Louis graveyard and Metaire 
Cemetery will be at once observed by the visitor. In both 
burial places the graves are placed above the ground. 
In St. Louis graveyard the graves are built of brick, or, 
what seems like a brick wall from the outside. This wall 
is some eight feet thick and the same number of feet in 
height. There are four graves or cells from the ground 
to the top, with brick partitions between. The opening 
of these burying places are on the inside, the outside 
being a solid wall. The coffin slides into those cells, and 
afterward they are sealed with brick and mortar. A 
marble stone or board, bearing date of birth and death, 
is fastened to the brick used in closing the grave. 

I have never seen a burial place where graves are so 
neglected, particularly while still in use. Where people 
have moved away from the locality or trace of them 
has been lost, the graves of their dead relatives or friends 
are opened and used for another burial. On the ground 
under the graves that had been reopened, lay grew- 
some debris two feet high — coffin lids, bottoms, ends, 
handles, etc. In the openings of some of these graves 
I saw bones, and in others complete skulls. In the cen- 
ter of the graveyard small vaults are built on top of the 
ground. I deciphered dates on time and weather-worn 
tablets as far back as 1823. Poor people mostly are 
buried in the St. Louis graveyard, not many blocks from 
the business section of the city. 

Metaire Cemetery, a few miles from the city, is com- 
paratively new. At one end of this cemetery also is 
built the solid brick wall with its four graves in a sec- 
tion, but few compared to those to be found in St. Louis. 
Here are erected some of the finest private mausoleums 



107 

to be seen in the country. Of course, all the graves are 
above the j^^round. Large, red and steel granite head- 
stones, from 10 to 15 feet high, are built on the surface. 
Monuments like those to be seen in this cemetery are not, 
I believe, to be found elsewhere in xA^merica. The grounds 
and graves are kept in the very best condition. 

It is said the foundation of the customs house is built 
on a sub-foundation of thousands of bales of cotton. 
If a hole is dug six inches in the ground, it will at once fill 
with water. Cotton, molasses and rice are the chief ex- 
ports from this city. 

It is only from the State of Louisiana that the simon- 
pure Creole comes. And, comparatively speaking, how 
few Northern people know what the Creole really 
is. The majority of people with whom I have conversed 
on this subject hold to the belief that negro blood courses 
through Creole veins. Louisianians, French, Mexicans 
and Spaniards are the creole-producing races, I was 
informed. 

The contention that negro blood is in the Creoles of 
Louisiana has no foundation in fact. The present mayor 
of New Orleans is a Creole, and any one familiar with 
the customs of the South well knows that he would not 
be mayor of the Crescent City if negro blood were in 
his make-up. 

This intense prejudice to having negroes pose as Cre- 
oles is borne out in a little incident that happened in 
Mississippi a few years ago. A Northern theatrical man- 
ager traveling with a troupe of so-called "Creole Belles," 
a company of burlesquers, stopped off in the northern part 
of the State of Mississippi. It was known beforehand 
that his troupe was entirely composed of octoroons, 
which caused a feeling of bitter indignation in the people 
of that locality. The manager of the "Creole Bells" was. 
merely shown a stick a dynamite which the town people 
threatened to place under his entire outfit if he neglected 



io8 

to couple his car to the first train coming northward. 
He didn't wait to be told the second time. 

After remaining in New Orleans a week, not having 
obtained work, and prospects dark, I concluded to pick 
up and leave before I went entirely "broke." I had 
about $25 left out of the $50 I received from my sister, 
and spent $20 of this for a ticket to Jacksonville, Fla., 
the next place on my itinerary, in hopes I would fare 
better in the work line. 

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. 

I reached Jacksonville with only enough money to 
pay expenses for a few days. The second day after I 
had reached this place found me working on one of the 
daily papers, and for a few days I was compelled to draw 
on my earnings to keep me going until pay day. 

When entering the street, after alighting from the train 
I heard the most blatant and boisterous yelling and howl- 
ing by hack drivers and hotel criers I ever listened to 
at any city or place at which I have stopped. It was one 
frightful din. They were all negroes. 

The distance from New Orleans to Jacksonville is 
over 600 miles. I thought 350 miles would be about the 
distance separating the two cities. As a matter of fact, 
it is 351 miles from Pensacola to Jacksonville alone. 

Jacksonville is situated on the St. Johns River, about 
20 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The harbor is deep, 
allowing all passenger and freight vessels sailing up 
and down the coast to enter. Most of the business build- 
ings and a large number of the residences are new, hav- 
ing been erected on the sites of those wiped out by fire 
some four or five years ago. With its well-paved, clean 
streets and new buildings, it is at the top of the list as 
one of the most up-to-date small cities to be found in 
the country. The winter season, of course, is Jackson- 
ville's busiest time; but throughout the entire year busi- 



109 

ness is good. The city is provided with water from ar- 
tesian wells. It owns its water plant, and also the elec- 
tric light plant. 

Up to eight or nine years ago the northern part of 
Florida was dotted with orange groves, which escaped 
-the frost long enough for them to grow to the bearing 
stage. At that time, however, a severe frost killed all 
the trees, and forever put out of question the probability 
of orange raising in northern Florida. Through the visi- 
tation of this frost, people considered wealthy were made 
poor. The section embraced in the frost line extends 
about 150 miles southward of Jacksonville. 

During two or three days in February the weather 
was quite cold for that locality. Later it moderated to 
pleasant October weather. 

While walking about the streets in the colored section 
of the city, a negro came along riding on a bicycle. Sit- 
ting on the steps of the porch of a corner house were 
two negresses. The negro evidently was acquainted 
with them. He loudly addressed the women: "T'ank 
de Lawd fo' de sun !" "Yes, indeede," was the reply ; 
"bettah dan wood. Wood putty high now." I was in- 
formed there are really more negroes in Jacksonville 
than there are white people. 

Here also the ostrich industry is represented by a 
"farm" containing a number of these great birds ; and 
they, like in Los Angeles and Phoenix, prove a center 
of attraction to visitors. It is at Phoenix, however, 
where the greatest number of ostriches are to be found, 
probably because the climate is better suited for their 
raising. 

The shell-road drives about this city cannot be ex- 
celled. The foundation of shell, from six inches to a foot, 
when ground fine, is much superior to macadam. The 
walks in the parks are deeply covered with shells also. 
These shells are of the snail variety, only larger. A 



no 

short distance up the St. Johns River they are seen in 
large mounds. They are loaded on barges and brought 
to the city and used for the purpose stated above. 

ST* AUGUSTINE, FLA. 

I spent a day in St. Augustine. The first of the great 
chain of large, modern and expensive hotels which line 
the East Coast of Florida is met with in St. Augustine, 
owned by Millionaire Flagler. 

The old Spanish fort, of course, is the chief point of 
interest to the visitor. Late in the first half of the six- 
teenth century this fort was built. In one of the dun- 
geons, which is only about 10x15 feet, I struck a match, 
and the light from which failed to illuminate further 
than the tips of my fingers. I then lighted a newspaper 
of 10 or 12 pages in the center of the dungeon, and this 
but dimly lit up the room. Government officers are 
placed here to look after the old fort. It seems to serve 
no other purpose than an object of interest to visitors. 

The narrow streets and sidewalks in St. Augustine are 
similar to those found in the cities of Mexico. 

When I left Jacksonville for Atlanta, after a stay of 
three weeks, I had earned and saved enough money to 
make a couple of more stops. 

ATLANTA, GA. 

It was about the middle of February when I started 
northward, my first stop being Atlanta, where I re- 
mained three days, but found no work. 

Most people who have lived in the larger cities will 
meet with a surprise here. This will be occasioned by 
several high office buildings, from 10 to 17 stories in 
height. One would naturally ask what particular com- 
mercial feature a city less than 150,000 inhabitants calls 
for 16 and 17 story buildings. The insurance, steel and 
other great commercial combinations of the North have 



Ill 

made Atlanta a sub-headquarters, thereby saving the 
time that business transactions would take up between 
the South and the North. These buildings represent, 
in fact, a vest-pocket edition of lower Broadway, New 
York. The general business-like appearance of Atlanta 
is very favorable. 

NASHVILLE, TENN. 

Nashville, the Rock City, also called the Athens of 
the South, I reached on the 20th of February, exactly 
one year from the day I had left Washington on my 
journey. I had traveled in this time 16,633 niiles. 

This city is the capital of Tennessee, situated in the 
center of the State and on the Cumberland River. Con- 
siderable shipping takes place on this river in the fall 
and spring seasons of the year. Wholesale and commis- 
sion houses form no small part of the business interests 
of Nashville. The street paving and buildings are good. 

There are some dozen colleges, seminaries, and other 
seats of learning located in the Rock City, which gives 
it the name "Athens of the South." Among the institu- 
tions of this place is the widely-known Vanderbilt Col- 
lege, and a negro college is included among them. 

Aristocratic tendencies are more pronounced in this 
city than any other Southern city I have been in. On 
shopping days the streets on which the stores are located 
are lined with carriages for blocks, driven by colored 
coachmen. I found living expenses here less than in any 
other city I had stopped in. 

There was less excitement in this place than any I 
have been in of its size. During my six weeks' stay I 
did not witness a runaway, a street car collision or ac- 
cident ; did not hear a band play, nor see an arrest made 
— not even a dog chasing a cat. It's a good place to 
save money. 

I occupied a room over an undertaking establishment, 



112 

and through it I had to pass to reach my quarters. With 
the exception of Sunday night, it would be from 2 130 to 
3 o'clock in the morning when I returned, as I worked 
at night. I generally talked with the night manager 10 
or 15 minutes before going to bed. 

During one of the early morning chats our conversa- 
tion was interrupted by a noise which sounded like new 
furniture cracking. The manager earnestly asked : "Did 
you hear that pop?" I assured him it was very distinct 
and asked what had caused it. ''That's a casket pop- 
ping," he answered, and added: "We will have a 'call' 
before the day is out." 

I stopped in the office, as usual, when coming from 
work the next morning. I asked the manager if they 
had a "call" the day before. He said a call came over 
the 'phone at 8 o'clock in the morning, five hours after 
the casket had "popped." A young fellow, who was 
trying to beat his way on a freight train, had missed his 
footing and fell under the wheels of a car and was ter- 
ribly mangled. Fully half a dozen "pops" occurred later 
while I was chatting with the manager in the still, early 
morning hours, and before the day had passed, in every 
instance a "call" had been received. The manager in- 
formed me that during his 15 years' service in the under- 
taking business he had heard hundreds of similar casket 
"pops," and each one proved a sure forerunner of a 
death call before the day was over. 

The fruit trees were in blossom, indicating, of course, 
winter had passed, during which time I had not seen a 
flake of snow fall. 

I reached Nashville with but $10, and left with $90, 
besides having provided myself with shoes, a suit of 
clothes, and other necessary wearing apparel which I 
was in need of. I had worked six full weeks at $24 
a week. 



113 
MEMPHIS, TENN. 

Easter day I reached Memphis. The horse racing 
season was in full blast, and the city was filled with 
sporting people. Wherever the better element of this 
class is found, it is a sure indication of a lively town. 
And Memphis is nothing if not that. 

This city, from a commercial point of view, is second 
to New Orleans in the South, not including St. Louis. 
Cotton and merchandise are being loaded and unloaded 
from river steamboats all the while. It does not seem 
like other Southern cities. A cosmopolitan air is no- 
ticeable at every turn. 

Early in the afternoons and evenings at the time of 
year I was in Memphis, loud strains of music are heard 
in every part of the city. Going in the direction from 
which the music seems to come, one will bring up at the 
river front. The m.usic will fall upon the ears strong 
and harsh, for it comes from steam caliopes, used on big 
river excursion boats to attract a crowd. In New Or- 
leans, music of this nature at the water front is heard 
at all seasons of the year. 

The water used in this city comes from artesian wells. 
The inside of ai water pitcher will be red as a piece of 
iron exposed to the weather. This is caused by the 
large amount of iron contained in the water. On top 
of the water also will be a skum of oil. This is owing 
to the city's proximity to the oil fields. 

I was here during the high water stage of the Missis- 
sippi River. In certain sections of the city street cars 
could not pass owing to the water running through door- 
ways. In the same sections most of the houses were de- 
serted. The houses which were not abandoned were 
reached by rowboats. As far as one could see westward 
nothing but water among trees met the eye. From Mem- 
phis, it seemed as if the State of Arkansas might have 
been under water. 



114 

I had worked full time from February 2 1st, when I 
reached Nashville, until May 3d. The money I saved 
from this stretch of work marked the high financial 
point of my trip. I had something like $156, and had 
provided myself with sufficient clothes and other neces- 
sary articles to last me until August. 

The second day after I had left Memphis there ap- 
peared in the columns of the paper on which I had been 
working an extended write-up of my trip up to that 
time. 

LITTLE ROCK, ARK- 

I reached Little Rock, the Rose City, with $152. This 
city is situated on the Arkansas River, the same stream 
that rises further westward in the Rocky Mountains and 
later flows through the perpendicular walls of Royal 
Gorge, Col. Only at high water can boats navigate this 
river. 

The name of Rose City for Little Rock is very ap- 
propriate. In most every house yard during the season 
of bloom can be seen rose bushes bending to the ground 
under the weight of the clusters that grow upon them. 
I was informed that roses bloom in this city every month 
from April to December. 

I again would like to call the attention of the reader 
to another zigzag move in my trip. The latter end of 
January I was at New Orleans; from here I went to 
Jacksonville, Fla., eastward over 600 miles; then north- 
westerly to Atlanta, Ga., and Nashville, Tenn. ; then 
southwesterly to Memphis and to Little Rock, Ark. 
Little Rock is some 300 miles north and over 100 miles 
west of New Orleans. 

I remained in Little Rock a few days, coming here 
mainly to visit Hot Springs, nearby. My stay in cities 
and places until I had reached the lakes was to be short, 
owing to my having stayed in Tennessee a longer period 



115 

than that for which my itinerary called, but for the pur- 
pose of "making hay while the sun shone." 

HOT SPRINGS, ARK» 

During my stay in Little Rock I made a trip to Hot 
Springs, America's Pool of Siloam, where, at any sea- 
son of the year, can be seen in painfully great numbers, 
the "maimed, blind and halt." This is Phoenix, Ariz., 
in another form. 

As Meccas of healing, the two places parallel each 
other, the difference being that people go to Phoenix in 
the hope that the rarified air will check the destroying 
forces of the tuberculosis germ; to Hot Springs they 
flock for the purpose of banishing from their system im- 
pure blood, bathing in these famous springs. The springs 
are located in a valley between two low mountains of the 
Ozark range. 

Reading accounts at different times of derelict and 
dishonest Government officials, we might allow ourselves 
to conclude that the Government held lightly the wel- 
fare of its less favored class of citizens. Forceful and 
pleasant contradiction to this way of thinking is found 
in Hot Springs. The land out of which the springs 
flow is owned by the Government, and that portion of 
it not used by the Government is leased to private parties. 

The Government baths are at the disposal of the 
public, and "whosoever will, may come." Instances of 
imposition on charity in this case are few, for any one 
with sufficient means to pay for treatment at private bath 
houses will lose little time in separating themselves from 
the poor, ragged, diseased patrons of the Government 
bath house. Close to the bath house is a marine hos- 
pital, erected here for treatment of those of Uncle Sam's 
soldiers whose ailments might be improved by the boil- 
ing baths. 

The smallest sum for which treatment and board can 



ii6 

be had is from $io to $ii a week. A course of baths, 
21 in number, costs from $4 up. Board can be had for 
$6 a week. Most people in bad health take a bath each 
day. There is generally a doctor's bill to be met in ad- 
dition to the board and bath bills, and the negro attend- 
ant looks for a fair-sized "tip." Most of the working 
people in Hot Springs seem to be there temporarily — 
working for treatment. 

Most everyone carries with them a cup out of which 
to drink, and poor judgment would not be displayed in 
adding to this a knife, fork and spoon. I used these 
articles, drank from cups, and ate food from plates and 
other dishes with a feeling of no large degree of immu- 
nity from coming in contact with poisonous germs from 
the diseased lips of those who had used them before, or 
from the sore hands of a dishwasher. 

In one public eating place I visited, I noticed sores 
on the face of the waiters. This class of people are 
working for treatment, as I have said before. As soon 
as they have received their course of baths, they leave. 
Then there are others who cannot find work to do, and 
this class utilize their time making known their affliction 
for the purpose of raising money with which to provide 
lodging, buy some food, and a little medicine. 

The sores on the bodies of some people who go to 
Hot Springs are so repulsive that negro "rubbers" will 
have nothing to do with them. However, I was told the 
healing properties of the water, after a few baths in such 
cases, would make favorable inroads to the loathsome 
aspect and remove the cause of objection that stood in 
the way of their receiving proper attention. 

It is safe to presume, were the land out of which the 
springs flow owned by private parties, it would be en- 
closed with a high fence, an entrance fee charged, and 
the price of treatment so exorbitant as to preclude even 
a faint hope of poor people being able to obtain treat- 
ment. 



117 

Hot Springs is the Monte Carlo of America in the 
winter season. Horse racing is in progress during most 
of the winter months, and faro, roulette, and all other 
forms of gambling are openly indulged in. 

The Government has built splendid roads, walks, 
placed hydrants and seats on both mountainsides. 

ST, LOUIS, MO, 

From Little Rock I headed northward, reaching St. 
Louis during the second week of the World's Fair. 

St. Louis! A city with a permanent population of 
over half a million people, for whom there is not provided 
a public square in which to rest, a public fountain for 
drinking purposes, and where no public conveniences 
of any kind can be seen. At the new City Hall 
there was a lone hydrant from which a drink of water 
could be had. But the City Hall in this instance is not 
in the business center of the city. For the lack of any 
other public place to sit and rest, I saw men and boys 
sitting on the street curbs. From here they were driven 
away by policemen. There is no city in North America, 
large or small, that has so neglected the welfare and 
comfort of its citizens in this respect as has the Mound 
City. 

The largest depot in North America is to be found 
here. The great arched roof spans 32 tracks. This is 
four tracks wider than the next largest depot. 

My week's stay in vSt. Louis was mostly spent in look- 
ing about the Fair grounds. From here I went to Louis- 
ville, Ky., a night's ride distant. 

LOUISVILLE, KY. 

This city has a population of some 200,000, and is sit- 
uated on the Ohio River. Years ago, no telling how far 
back, the names of the streets were cast on bars of iron,- 
and are still to be seen on buildings at the corners, but 
the lettering is unintelligible. 



ii8 

Kentucky is famous for her blue grass and well-bred 
horses. It occurred to me that the grass was chiefly 
raised for horses and not cows, for I had oleomargerine 
placed before me every time I sat down to eat. 

In an industrial way, Louisville ranks high in the man- 
ufacture of tobacco. 

After spending a few days here, I made a side trip 
to Mammoth Cave, another of the noted features in- 
cluded in my intinerary, where I spent three days. 

MAMMOTH CAVE, KY» 

This underground marvel is located about loo miles 
southward from Louisville, and there are few pleasanter 
or cheaper trips one can take. 

A low, long, one-story, L-shaped hotel, surrounded 
with large trees, pine, oak and other varieties, peopled 
with numerous feathered songsters, whose volume of 
notes at times sound like the echoes of an angelic choir; 
with long, green grass growing underneath, with scores 
of varied colored wild flowers interspersed, is a setting 
to be found only at Mammoth Cave. I have never seen 
such a galaxy of bright plumed and sweet singing birds 
anywhere. Enrapted by the sweet notes of the wild 
canary, mockingbird, bluebird, robin, thrush, cardinal 
oriole and other wooded w^arblers, the whip-poor-will 
lends solemn charm to the day olio at eventide. 

The cave was discovered in 1809 by a man named 
Hutchins, a hunter. The story goes that he was pursu- 
ing a wounded bear, which sought safety in the cave. 
Miners, who a few vears later were digging saltpetre 
gave the outside world the first reliable information of 
this underground wonder. The pipes and supports used 
by the saltpetre miners nearly a century ago stand as 
they left them. The tracks made by the feet of oxen 
used for the purpose of drawing from the cave their 
product, are yet to be seen. The wheel ruts of wagons 



119 

remain to tell of toil in this darkened place. Stone houses, 
built for consumptives, in the hope that the even tem- 
perature would prolong their lives, still stand by the 
pathside. These houses were occupied by some dozen 
"silent sufferers" for a period of five months. One of 
their number died, and the remainder lost faith in the 
gloomy, artificially lighted quarters and refused to live 
there longer. Even yet fragments of half-burned reeds, 
a lost moccasin, or a wooden bowl, tell of visits of ab- 
origines long before Hutchins' discovery. 

There are two different routes by which the cave is to 
be seen. Only the very strong can travel the two routes 
in one day. The "short route" requires from two to three 
hours' time, while the "long route" comprises a walk of 
14 miles. At least two days' time is required to obtain 
a fair idea of Mammoth Cave; but, remembering there 
are over 200 miles of explored and unexplored avenues 
and passes embraced in this marvelous cavity, weeks 
could be spent. 

The first stop is made at the Rotunda, a magnificent 
cavern, whose limestone ceiling rises to a height of 50 
feet. The next place shown by the guide is Olive's 
Bower, where, depending from the ceiling, is found the 
best stalactite formations to be seen in the cave. Giant's 
Coffin, a great rock of limestone formation, estimated to 
weigh 2,000 tons, is the next view in order. This cas- 
ket-shaped stone is 45 feet long, varies from 12 to 15 
feet wide, and has an almost uniform height of 18 feet. 
Star Chamber is very beautiful. When illuminated, thou- 
sands of gypsum crystals sparkle overhead. The Milky 
Way is plainly discerned, and twinkles down upon the 
upturned face of the beholder. 

The most interesting feature of the cave trip is a boat 
ride on the Echo River. No knowledge of its source 
has yet been made known. It flows, however, in the 
Green River, nearby. The distance from the surface is 



120 

360 feet, and the boat ride is half a mile. As the Echo 
River seems to rise and fall with the stages of the water 
of Green River, this trip can only be made when Green 
River is at its normal stage. Ths ceiling above the 
Echo River in some places is low, which prevents cours- 
ing the stream at high water. The boats used will seat 
20 people, and are of plain, rough planking, long and 
flat bottom. 

At a certain place in Grand Canyon of Arizona, four 
echoes respond to a loud noise or a shout. But while 
riding on Echo River, sound tarries among what seems 
music-producing rocks for a minute at a time. As soon 
as sound leaves the lips, it is converted into music. A 
man was baling out a boat about a quarter of a mile 
below, and the echo that responded to the contact of the 
two waters sounded as if great rocks were falling from 
high places. In this stream of water eyeless fish are 
said to be found. 

On the "long route," a servant of the hotel carrying 
lunch catches up with the party. Rude tables and boxes 
are provided at the "eating place," and a spring close by 
furnishes water to drink. Flies make free with the food 
here the same as those overground. Can't lose Mr. Fly 
anywhere. Judging from this familiar trait, they cannot 
be classed with the eyeless fish. 

The principal stalactite formations are to be found on 
the "short route," or nearer the entrance of the cave. 
But further along until the end of the "long route" is 
reached, the gypsum growth is magnificent. It resembles 
in a number of places a great tree covered with large 
snowflakes 

Thousands of bats make the cave their winter home, 
and sometimes naturpJists from various parts of the 
world spend several m^onths studying their habits. 

Notwithstanding the wonders contained in Mammoth 
Cave, its stalactite formations cannot compare with those 



121 

I have seen in Luray Caverns, Virginia. The gypsum 
grov^th, however along the "long route," offsets this. 
Luray Caverns are lighted by electricity, while globeless, 
smoky, greasy lamps are used in Mammoth Cave. Each 
tourist carries one of these during the trips. In Luray, 
most of the trip is wet and the ground muddy, while in 
Mammoth the pathways for the most part are slightly 
dusty all the way. There are scores and scores of inter- 
esting features of Mammoth Cave about which much 
could be written ; but, as it ranks with Yosemite, Yellow- 
stone, and the other great features of North America, 
and even of the world, a visit to it is the only way by 
which the mind can be satisfied. 

After having spent a week in Louisville and Mammoth 
Cave, I boarded a train for Cincinnati, O., where I ar- 
rived May i8th. 

CINCINNATI, O- 

One would undertake a difficult task to convince an- 
other unacquainted with the census report that Cincinnati 
was second to Cleveland. The crowded streets, con jested 
traffic, and the general business appearance of the Queen 
City would seem to belie this. 

As the Ohio River forms the border between the North 
and South, and Cincinnati being a railway center, the 
partition in the smoking cars of trains going South and 
no partitions in similar cars coming North is noticed. 
These partitions are used to separate negroes from the 
white travelers. The races are thus divided on all rail- 
road trains running through the Southern country. 

I asked a Pullman conductor on one occasion if the 
company could refuse accommodations to a negro hold- 
ing a Pullman ticket. In a somewhat evasive manner, he 
answered that the only way a negro could obtain a Pull- 
man ticket was through a white man buying one for him 
and not informing the ticket agent of that fact when 
purchasing it. 



122 

Manufacturing of most all kinds makes Cincinnati one 
of the most widely known cities in America. 

I remained in this city five days, and worked four of 
these. 

CLEVELAND, O. 

Cleveland, the Forest City, is better laid out than 
cities generally. Its wide streets bring to mind those of 
Salt Lake City. The consideration shown in providing 
recreation places for its citizens is marked. Park squares, 
water fountains and its monuments impress the visitor 
favorably. Its three or four miles of green, terraced lake 
front, with ample seats, drinking places and other con- 
veniences and points of interest to be found in this park 
stretch, belong distinctively to Cleveland. Its business 
enterprise is noticeable at every turn. 

Cleveland was the city I had decided to stop at and 
work for a "stake" to carry me through Canada, as, with 
the exception of the four nights' work in Cincinnati, I 
had traveled on the money I earned in Tennessee. 

After a stay of three or four days in the Forest City, 
however, I concluded to substitute Buffalo, and boarded 
a train for that city. 

BUFFALO, N, Y. 

The Bison City, I feel safe in saying, holds second 
place in beautiful cities of North America. Its some 
200 odd miles of asphalted streets, its forest-like resi- 
dential section, and the perfect leafy archways in summer 
over the streets, formed by trees growing on either side, 
are features so pronounced that I doubt if comparison 
can be made to other large cities of our country. The 
city is clean throughout, and the parks are good. 

Here, like on the streets of San Francisco, I noticed 
few negroes. I made inquiry on more than one occa- 
sion as to the cause of their absence in this fine city, but 
no explanation seemed to account for their scarcity. 



123 

I asked if there was any feeling between Americans 
and Canadians, as the latter form perhaps one-third the 
population of Buffalo. To my surprise, I was informed 
there did not seem to be any pronounced feeling between 
the two English-speaking races, but Germans and Cana- 
dians were clashing all the time. 

While talking with a man whom I had met in a South- 
ern city, I remarked that I hesitated to ask any one from 
what State they came, as most of the people with whom 
I came in contact seemed to be Canadians. To my sur- 
prise, he said: "Well, pass me up; I'm from the other 
side, too." 

I have passed through hailstorms, sand storms, mos- 
quito storms and numerous windstorms, but in Buffalo 
I encountered a fly storm. These flies are called Cana- 
dian or sand flies, and do not get far from the lake shore. 
The evening air becomes dense with these insects. They 
do not bite, but keep dropping on a person until, from hat 
to shoes, there will not seem to be room for another fly 
that has not been pre-em.pted. 

As I have mentioned earlier, the peach orchards were 
in blossom in the City of Mexico the first week in Jan- 
uary. In Guadalajara, the orange trees likewise. About 
the middle of February, when I left Jacksonville, Fla., 
the peach orchards represented a great pink-colored can- 
vas. In March, while in Nashville, Tenn., more peach 
blossoms. Later varieties of fruit trees were in bloom 
in Memphis. Early in May, trees in and about Little 
Rock, Ark., bore fruit. Upon reaching St. Louis, 345 
miles north of Little Rock, the fruit trees were in an 
early stage of bloom. The same pleasant sight was en- 
joyed through Kentucky and Ohio. Upon reaching Buf- 
falo, N. Y., and for a week or ten days later, the apple 
orchards represented small white clouds. So, from early 
January until balmy June, I had passed through an un- 
marred season of bloom. 



124 

NIAGARA FALLS, N, Y. 

I made two trips to Niagara Falls from Buffalo, one 
of which included a ride down the Gorge. I had ex- 
pected to meet with disappointment here, owing to my 
having seen water falls in Yosemite Valley more than 
20 times higher than those of Niagara. I found, on the 
other hand, however, this dashing, roaring, seething 
marvel measuring up well to the reputation it bears. In 
volume, the water passing down the high, perpendicular 
mountainsides in Yosemite is, by comparison, but a drop 
to a waterspout. It has always been said comparison to 
Niagara is out of question when considering the dis- 
tinctive points by which the noted features of North 
America have become famous, as each one stands on its 
own particular merit. 

The headwaters of the Niagara River begin at Buffalo 
and empty into Lake Ontario, 36 miles below. It is also 
the boundary line between the United States and Canada 
for this distance. Then, at the eastern end of Lake On- 
tario, the St. Lawrence River succeeds, as it were, Ni- 
agara River, through which the lake waters continue to 
flow until lost in the great Atlantic expanse. 

Twenty miles from Buffalo the waters of Niagara 
River take their awful plunge downward. The river is 
divided a short distance above the falls by a strip of 
land known as Goat Island, on one side of which is 
American Falls, and on the other side Horshoe Falls, 
the former on American territory and the latter on Ca- 
nadian. 

The rapids above the falls are quite a sight in them- 
selves. The water is in a maddened state of agitation all 
the while, dashing upward and receding, at each move- 
ment churning into colors from blue-green to white. The 
river at this point flows over great, insidious rocks, 
which can be seen in the hollows made by the surging 
billows. 



125 

Stopping off at the city of Niagara Falls, the water 
descent first seen by the visitor is American Falls. These 
drop a distance of 159 feet, and the width is 1,100 feet. 
It is estimated that the quantity of water passing over 
this massive ledge of rock is 500,000 gallons a second. 
The depth of water just as it takes its precipitious leap 
is five feet. 

Crossing unique bridges, entering splendid, shady 
walks, the visitor will later find himself looking at 
Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island. The width or length 
of the falls is over 3,000 feet, and its descent 165 feet. 
While the American Falls are the most graceful and 
withal grand to behold. Horseshoe's curved nature and 
with a five times greater volume of water passing over — 
one is simply seized with awe at its coUossal grandeur. 
The ledge of rock over which the water leaps is hidden 
20 feet underneath. 

The sound of the plunging water as it clashes with 
that below produces a noise greater than would be made 
by the feet of thousands of prancing horses on a great 
board floor. Ordinary sounds of thunder would be 
drowned by the tremendous crash of this water at the 
base. Compared to the roar of Niagara Falls, the rum- 
bling echoes of Mammoth Cave are as sounds confined 
within deadened walls. 

The sheets of spray that continually arose recalled to 
my mind a view I saw on a calm, day in the basins of 
Yellowstone, when low, lethargic clouds of steam o'er- 
hung boiling, spouting geysers. A comparison of this 
spray with that of Yosemite Falls, is like a million yards 
of gauzy weave to a single bridal veil. 

While gazing upon this gigantic, ponderous sight, 
man shrivels to the infinitesimal. One leaves the scene 
with a feeling of nothingness compared to Nature's 
mammoth designs. 

Several miles below the Falls, between walls 300 feet 



126 

apart, are located Whirlpool Rapids. The current runs 
some 20 miles an hour at this place, and the water is 
several hundred feet deep. This great volume of water, 
hemmed in, as it were, breaks forth in maddening tor- 
rents — boiling, foaming, lashing, roaring — and rebels, so 
to speak, at its cramped quarters by dashing upward to 
a height of 30 feet. 

The famous Whirlpool, located below the rapids of the 
same name, is a treacherous, circular, augur-like, restless 
body of water. The course of the river makes a sharp 
turn at this place. The great, powerful current, un- 
heeding the course, flows straight ahead into a perpen- 
dicular wall 300 feet high. Here it stops, its force 
broken. Then it curls, swirls and twists around in this 
deep vortex, finally passing through the regular course, 
and joins, less troubled waters below. Heavy logs 
reaching the Whirlpool are tossed and jostled about and 
sucked down as if they were nothing but slender, fragile 
twigs. 

Little has been overlooked by the commissioners that 
would add comfort to Niagara's visitors. The grounds 
about the falls are kept in splendid condition ; good walks, 
plenty of shade, comfortable seats, drinking fountains, 
and other conveniences, leave little to be added to make 
the place attractive and a visit pleasant. 

I remained in Buffalo five weeks, working most of this 
period. This was one of the most important points of 
my trip, as, with a snug purse, I calculated I could 
finish on time. 

It was now July ist, and but seven weeks remained of 
my year-and-a-half journey. Having made two trips 
to Niagara Falls, there remained but one noted feature 
for me to see — Thousand Islands. 

I did not intend to do any work until I returned to the 
States. With $96 in my possession, I bought a ticket 
to Toronto, going by rail to Lewiston, where I boarded 
a lake steamer. 



127 

CANADA-TORONTO. 

After a three hours' sail down the Niagara River to 
Lake Ontario and across, Toronto, the second city of 
Canada, was reached. 

This city compares favorably with cities as large as it 
in the United States. There seemed to be little difference, 
if any, in the ways and customs of the Canadians and 
Americans. The Sunday laws are rigidly enforced. 
News-stand and cigar stores are not allowed to open for 
business not to speak of liquor-selling places. The pub- 
lication of Sunday newspapers is forbidden. At the 
"Island," a resort on the lake, a short distance from the 
city, all places of amusement were closed on Sunday. 
The business appearance is favorable, and the city is well 
provided with places for recreation. 

An incident that came under my observation somewhat 
different than that of the States, was the saloon, or bar, 
feature of hotels. No matter how high or moderate 
rate the hotel might be, there was the bar. 

There are num.erous Canadians who do not take kindly 
to what they term usurpation of the word American by 
the people of the States. They object to being called 
Canadians, holding that they are as much entitled to be 
known as Americans as are native-born on this side 
of the line. Some do not hesitate to suggest that Cana- 
dians should be known as Americans, and the people of 
the United States as "Statesers." 

I was in Toronto the Fourth of July, and missed the 
familiar sound of patriotic firecrackers, bombs and re- 
volvers. Still, throughout the city could be seen here 
and there the Stars and Stripes, small and large flags 
tacked to windowsills or floating in the breeze from a 
socket. 

THOUSAND ISLANDS. 

I remained three days in Toronto. On the afternoon 
of the Fourth of July I boarded a boat for Montreal, a 



128 

distance of 389 miles by water. The course of the boat 
from Toronto was across Lake Ontario to Charlotte, 
N. Y., reaching- that place about 11 o'clock at night. 
Charlotte is Rochester's lake port, which is seven miles 
distant, and Charlotte is also the Coney Island of Lake 
Ontario. There were fireworks galore at this place. 

Next morning we were at Kingston, the "West Point" 
of Canada, located at the easterly end of Lake Ontario, 
and where the St. Lawrence River begins. A short dis- 
tance eastward the first of the Thousand Islands were 
reached. There are some 1,700 islands in the group, 
which rise out of the water in this archipelago for a dis- 
tance of 50 miles. They vary in size, shape and appear- 
ance from a small, barren rock to large areas of land, on 
which grow foliage and trees, and small farms are cul- 
tivated on some of them. Many of the islands are dotted 
with summer residence, varying in style of architecture 
from the modest cottage of the camper to the castle of the 
millionaire. 

On Wellesley Island is located Thousand Island Park, 
where a summer Chatauqua is held. 

From Thousand Island Park to Alexandria Bay, 
seven miles distant, the island scenery is the most beau- 
tiful of the trip. Hundreds of islands lie across the 
steamer's zigzag course, all differing in size and color- 
ing. The intricacy of channels through which the boat 
angles in this short distance requires experienced pilots 
to guide the vessel safely. We now enter a narrow pass 
between cliff-like banks, covered with moss and creep- 
ing vines ; then we open into a lake-like expansion, then 
again among winding courses, through clustering islands 
and jutting rock points. 

From this labyrinth we emerge into Alexandria Bay, 
the "Saratoga of the St. Lawrence." The adjacent islands 
are dotted with cottages, some showing from among 
the trees perched on rocky bluffs, others on low-lying 
islands, or nestling in beautiful coves along the mainland. 



129 

At noon time the boat had reached Ogdensburg, N. Y., 
opposite which is Prescott, Canada. This is the terminus 
of the lake steamers, too large to run the several rapids 
of the St. Lawrence located between this point and Mon- 
treal. After having changed from the lake to the river 
boat, the first rapids, Long Sault, is reached. These 
rapids extend some nine miles. With the steam almost 
shut off, the boat dashes among the waves that seem 
to advance to meet her, and is carried along at a speed 
of 20 miles an hour. So treacherous is the grade of the 
river at this place that four men are kept at the wheel to 
insure safe steering. Passing through the several rapids 
on this trip, the boat rocks like one on the ocean in 
a storm, for the water is very turbulent, rendering the 
trip most exciting. At times the vessel seems settling to 
sink, but she swiftly glides from threatened danger, 
past ominous rocks, until she emerges from the rapids 
and is evenly buoyed on untroubled waters below. 

Lachine Rapids are the fiercest, the most celebrated, 
and difficult of navigation of all the rapids passed be- 
tween Prescott and Montreal. These are located nine 
miles from the latter city. Passengers are seized with a 
feeling of dubious expectation as they look forward to 
the glittering sheet of foaming breakers ahead. In we 
plunge among them, the headlong current bearing us to- 
ward the shelving and insidious rocks, with the 
dark suggestion of others unseen beneath the water. 
Deftly we pass them by, within a few feet of their treach- 
erous edges — through foam, through billows, through 
hurling eddy and swirling whirlpool, through clouds of 
spray, arising from the churning vortex, crowned with 
the irridescence of a hundred rainbows, and amid the 
ocean roar and tumult of the lashing surf! A moment 
more, we have completed the descent, and ride securely 
on the peaceful river below, with a sense of relief born of 
the contemplated danger passed. 



I30 

A canal is built alongside the river for westward boat 
traffic, for, while vessels can "shoot the rapids" going 
eastward, it is impossible to navigate the river westwardly 
over the territory in which the rapids are located. 

A feeling of self-satisfaction came over me at this 
stage of my trip, for I had passed through Thousand 
Islands, the last of the noted features of North America 
which I had set out to see nearly seventeen months be- 
fore ; besides, I had enough money to carry me through 
the section of Canada I wished to visit and also back to 
the States. 

MONTREAL, QUE. 

After a 27-hour sail across Lake Ontario and down the 
St. Lawrence River, I reached Montreal, the principal 
seaport city of Canada, situated 150 miles from tide 
water and 300 miles from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its 
inhabitants number about 350,000. I had not expected to 
find such a busy, metropolitan place. Few cities offer 
more interest to the visitor than Montreal, for the mind is 
taken back to the seventeenth century. Every section 
of the city is thickly dotted with churches, colleges and 
nunneries. Two-thirds of the population are French. 
Like, in Mexico, the churches are the first objects of in- 
terest pointed out to the visitor, and the denomination 
they represent is, to most Americans, made tediously 
clear. 

St. James' Cathedral, patterned in style of architecture 
after St. Paul's at Rome, located on one side of Dominion 
Square, is the church Montrealers invariably point out 
to the visitor. The general plan of this building is de- 
signed in the form of a cross, 330 feet long and 222 feet 
wide. The dome is 70 feet in diameter, and rises to a 
height of 210 feet inside, while the height to the top of 
the cross is 250 feet. 

The city is abundantly supplied with parks and squares. 



131 

Mount Royal Park, behind the city is, I beheve, the best 
natural park I have seen. It rises to a height of some 
500 feet, and, with the exception of a winding roadway 
built from the base to the summit, and several long 
stairways for foot travelers, the park is the same as Na- 
ture designed it. A magnificent view of the busy city 
below is had from this elevation. It was from this point 
of observation Jaques Cartier viewed the fertile country 
he had claimed for France, when, uplifting the cross, he 
gave it the name of Mount Royal. 

For years I had been searching for four-leaf clovers, 
and here on Mount Royal I was surprised by finding not 
only one, but three of these much-coveted, lucky omens. 

Another delightful place to visit is St. Helen's Island, 
so named by Champlain after his wife. The island is sit- 
uated in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, opposite 
the city. 

It was in this city the first printing plant in the Do- 
minion was brought, when, in the seventeenth century, 
Benjamin Franklin acted as a commissioner to nego- 
tiate the ceding of the country to the United States. He 
brought with him from Philadelphia a French printer. 

The business blocks of the city are good and, for the 
most part, of modern architecture. The style of a con- 
siderable number of the buildings in the residential sec- 
tion is of Queen Ann design. Montreal is the headquar- 
ters for the railroads of Canada, and, in a general sense, 
the metropolis of the Dominion. The city is clean, and 
the people seem thrifty. 

In this city are located two well known seats of learn- 
ing — McGill University, an English institution, and 
Laval University, a French seat of learning. 

OTTAWA, ONT. 

I made a trip to the Dominion capital during my stay 
in Montreal. The Parliament buildings are built on the 



132 

high bank of the Ottawa River, and for miles around its 
towers can be plainly seen. The city generally is kept 
scrupulously clean. Ottawa has properly been termed 
''that fair city with its crown of towers." 

I remained in Montreal a week, for which my itinerary 
called, and then made a start for Quebec by rail. 

QUEBEC, QUE, 

This city is situated at the gateway of the St. Lawrence 
River. Part of the city is built on a high elevation, and 
the remaining portion at the foot. Most of the streets 
are asphalted, and kept clean. 

Nature has so formed Quebec from her commanding 
eminence that she holds the position of guardian and 
sentry of Canada. A great, strong fort is built on this 
elevation, from which a long view is had to the eastward. 

A beautiful sentiment is displayed on a monument 
erected to both of the generals who commanded the 
armies who fought that memorable and bloody battle 
for the possession of Canada on the Plains of Abraham, 
a short distance from Quebec, and in which were com- 
prised both the flower and youth of England and France. 
This monument, some 14 feet high, stands in the Gov- 
ernor's Garden, just off Dufferin's Terrace. Gen. Wolfe 
was the commander of the English forces, and Gen. 
Montcalm commanded the French army. On one side of 
this monument, cut in large letters, is the name of the 
vanquisher, "Wolfe," and on an opposite side, in equally 
prominent letters, the name of the vanquished, "Mont- 
calm." 

Churches, colleges and nunneries are also numerous 
in this city, some of these the oldest in the Dominion. 

Levis, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec, is 
where railway passengers for Quebec leave the trains 
and are ferried to the other side. 

There is a splendid promenade of nearly a mile in 



133 

length along the bank or bkiff of the river. This bluff, 
known as Dufferin's Terrace, extends to and a short dis- 
tance beyond the Citadel, or great fort. No city I have 
been in offers such a sweeping view of the surrounding 
country. The Citadel is the highest point in the city. 

The famous church of Ste. Anne de Beaupre is located 
a short distance from Quebec. This shrine was built in 
honor of Ste. x\nne early in the seventeenth century. 

The story goes that, a few years after the founding 
of Quebec, a crew of Breton sailors were buffeted by a 
terrific storm; hope had fled and their lives were de- 
spaired of. They turned to their protectress and patron 
saint and vowed to build a shrine in honor of Ste. Anne 
d^Auray should she guide them safely through the storm. 
They landed safely and built a little chapel in fulfillment 
of their vow. Later, a much larger church took the place 
of the one erected by these simple Breton sailors. 

Surprise is met with when entering the building, for 
on either side of the main entrance are stacks of crutches 
and various surgical appliances that have been left by 
thousands of relieved supplicants. 

The French-speaking people of this place are largely 
in the majority of the English-speaking inhabitants. 

During my visit to Quebec, one of the English papers 
printed an account of my trip. 

After spending three interesting days in the "Cradle 
of Canada," I bought a ticket to Halifax, N. S., 674 
miles distant. 

HALIFAX, N. S. 

Victoria, B. C. marked the northwest outpost of my 
trip; Veracruz, Mexico, the southward, and Dalhousie 
Junction, on Chaleur Bay, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
the northeastern, which I passed on my way to Halifax. 
If the reader will consult the map, he will find that by 
drawing a line from Victoria to Veracruz, and then up 



134 

to Dalhousie Junction, the lines will resemble the letter 
V, and give him a clear idea of the scope of territory 
over which I had traveled. 

After a ride of 23 hours, I arrived in HaUfax. The 
railway connecting Halifax with Quebec and Montreal is 
the Intercolonial, and is owned by the Dominion gov- 
ernment. It is known as 'The People's Railroad." 
The system of time on this road is different from any I 
had previously traveled on. The time of counting starts 
at I a. m., and 24 hours later it would be 24 o'clock. The 
ke}^ to finding out the time Americans are accustomed to, 
is to subtract 12 from all time over 12 o'clock. Should 
a train be scheduled at a certain place at 19:35 o'clock, 
12 subtracted from 19:35 would leave 7:35, or 7:35 P. M. 
There is no "A. M." or 'T. M." to be found in the Inter- 
colonial Railroad's time table. The object in building 
this railroad was for the purpose of transporting troops 
in case of war from Halifax to the interior of the Do- 
minion. 

Halifax, in a measure, holds the same position of 
sentry and guardian to Canada as does Quebec. In and 
about its sheltered harbor are built ten forts, and a large 
number of soldiers are stationed here. The populace of 
Halifax are nearly all English speaking. 

For a place so well known, it impressed me more un- 
favorably than any I have been in. The streets are 
mostly all unpaved and in poor condition. The people 
seemed untidy, and even slovenly. The buildings are 
poor and dingy looking. In fact, most of them looked 
paint hungry — ravenously so. The general appearance 
of this place brought to my mind visions of a mangy dog. 
I saw few slips in the docks occupied with vessels, little 
traffic was moving, and, from a business point of view, 
the town seemed fit in every way to give up the ghost. I 
took a ride in an observation vehicle, and the announcer 
was a small boy with a squeaky voice. From him I gath- 



135 

ered that the features of HaUfax were soldiers, forts 
and the harbor. 

Having spent three days in this city of forts, I took 
my departure for Digby, N. S. This section of country 
through which I traveled is Longfellow's "Land of Evan- 
geline." Digby is situated on the Bay of Fundy, and 
from here a boat conveys passengers to St. John, N. B., 
which I reached after a three hours' sail. 

ST. JOHN, N. p. 

Upon reaching this city, a horde of hackmen and hotel 
"barkers" were seen climbing over the tops of the piling, 
waving hats and arms to attract the attention of passen- 
gers, shouting at the top of their voices, rivaling in an- 
noyance the din encountered at Jacksonville, Fla. 

But what a difference in appearance between St. John, 
N. B., and Halifax, N. S. The streets were paved and 
clean, street traffic heavy, and the people generally seemed 
to be up and doing. 

Between this port and Veracruz, Mexico, there, is a 
great difference in the nature of tides — the two extremes. 
At low tide at St. John, vessels secured to docks are rest- 
ing on mud, with the nearest water to them sometimes 
TOO feet outward. Passing by the same place eight or 
ten hours later, the vessels that were seen resting on the 
muddy bottom will be level with the dock, in 12 to 15 
feet of water. The tide at this port is 26 feet, while at 
Veracruz there is no tide. 

Opposite the city, the St. John River empties into the 
harbor. When the tide is out, there is a waterfall over a 
ledge of rock of about ten feet. When the tide is full, 
there is no sign of a fall, and large vessels pass to and 
fro in safety. 

The city is hilly for the most part, and is well supplied 
with places of recreation. The populace is much given 
to American ideas, and have no hesitancy in so declaring. 



136 

Here also I spent three days, when I left for Portland, 
Me., reaching that place after a night's ride. 

PORTLAND, ME. 

The clean appearance and well-shaded streets, its well- 
kept and convenient public places of recreation, impressed 
me favorably. 

I made a trip to Old Orchard Beach from this place, 
which holds second place to Ocean Grove, N. J., as a re- 
ligious resort in the summer season. The only shade I 
saw on this beach was a pier about 15 feet wide built 
over the water. 

My itinerary called me from this place to Rutland, Vt., 
to Saratoga, to Albany, and eastward to Boston. Not 
having more than $13 left out of the $96 I left Buffalo 
with, I was forced to change my route in order to steer 
clear of financial shoals, as I did not want to get stranded 
at this stage of my undertaking. 

For the first time I was compelled to change my plans, 
although disliking very much to do so, deciding it would 
be prudent to head for a probable safe harbor, so I left 
for Boston. 

BOSTON, MASS. 

I reached Boston with $10, and remained in this street- 
puzzle city three weeks. The broken off, joined, patch- 
like streets (?) of the Hub City proves a constant source 
of worry to even people familiar with large cities, as it 
is a common occurrence for visitors to find themselves 
completely lost. 

There is no city in the country whose people are so 
well provided with a convenient place of recreation like 
that afforded by the old historical Common. Boston was 
the third city to build an elevated street railway system, 
and the first, I believe, to build subways for street cars. 
The elevated trains in Boston are much better than those 
of other cities I have ridden on. The cars have both 



137 

end and side doors, which are used for passengers getting 
on and getting off, respectively, thus preventing coming 
in contact with one another. The manner of conducting 
traffic of all kind in this city seems years ahead of any 
city I have been in. Pedestrians here have the right of 
way passing along or when crossing streets. 

There was not even a pier 15 feet wide under the 
shade of which one might seek shelter from the sun at 
Revere Beach, the Coney Island of Boston. On Sundays 
and holidays as many as 75,000 people gather at this 
watering place. Neither are their board walks to rest 
under. 

The South Depot in this city is, I venture to state, the 
most artistic structure of its kind to be found on this con- 
tinent. While the Terminal Depot at St. Louis is larger 
by four tracks, the attractiveness of the South Depot 
offsets the difference in size. 

I made a trip to Newport, R. I., during my stay in 
Boston. There are two bathing beaches at this fashion- 
able resort, one for the "public" and another for "pri- 
vate" bathers. Several miles separate these places. Bailey's 
beach is used by the wealthy, but the public beach 
is far superior to it. The Cliff Walk extends from one 
beach to the other, and is between three and four miles 
in length. There is more wealth represented in the 
houses that face the Cliff Walk than perhaps is to be 
found in any similar distance in the world. 

On my way back to Boston I stopped off a day at Fall 
River, Mass. Out of j6 textile mills scattered through- 
out the city, but five were running. At noon time I saw 
hundreds of children of the striking mill workers lined 
up at a place where tickets were being given that would 
entitle them to food. The arm of charity engaged in dis- 
pensing aid in this instance was the Salvation Army. This 
recalled the "bread blocks," formed by several hundred 
hungry, homeless men, huddled together in square-block 
fashion to keep warm, and the "bread lines," sometimes 



138 

over a city square in length, composed of the same class 
of unfortunates, that I had seen, and can still be seen any 
night during the winter, in Madison Square and Union 
Square, New York City, patiently awaiting their turn to 
be fed from the free coffee and sandwich wagons pro- 
vided by Mr. W. R. Hearst. Remembering having passed 
marble and brownstone mansions while traversing the 
Cliff Walk the day before, and seeing in the short dis- 
tance of 19 miles children fighting for tickets that would 
entitle them to a portion of food, brought forcibly to my 
mind that "one-half the world does not know how the 
other half lives." 

I made these side trips to Newport and Fall River, and 
about a week later my time in Boston had expired. I 
worked most of the three weeks, and, still adhering to 
the "hard-pan economy" idea with which I had started 
out, I had saved a nice little sum. My wages were $28 
a week. 

I had now traveled 21,000 miles, the distance I had 
estimated my trip would embrace. I had also $58 in 
my possession, $2 more than my ticket cost from Wash- 
ington to San Francisco. 

I was very fortunate in securing work in Boston, as 
the city contained a surplus of linotype operators. I 
went to a printing office the second evening I was in the 
city to see an acquaintance I had not met in years. Of 
course, we were glad to see each other. He remarked 
later that he was not feeling well, and asked me to work 
for him that night. I went to work. A few days later 
he was taken to a hospital, and I continued working 
in his place until I left Boston. 

The date at the time of my leaving Boston was the 
8th of August, and I had over 600 miles yet to travel, 
in which were included seven or eight stops. But, being 
well supplied with "financial sinews of war," nothing 
could prevent my finishing on time but sickness or acci- 
dent. With courage born of a snug purse, and being on 



139 

schedule time, I left Boston with a light heart for the 
Green Mountains of Vermont, covering at this time my 
original plan, which I was forced to abandon at Port- 
land, Me. 

RUTLAND, VT, 

Rutland, the Marble City, was the place at which I next 
stopped. This neat little city nestles between two ranges 
of the Green Mountains. Marble hitching posts, step- 
ping stones and door steps seen throughout the city, are 
constant reminders of the origin of its name. 

I had never been in the State of Vermont before, and 
while I had to go out of my way at this time, I availed 
myself of the opportunity to put on my record a visit to 
this patriotic old New England State. 

I left Rutland for Saratoga after a two days' stay in 
this quiet, little mountain city. 

SARATOGA, N. Y. 

The horse racing season was on when I reached Sara- 
toga, and the hotels seemed to be crowded. A consid- 
erable number of the diamond-bedecked people seen here 
in the summer are found at Hot Springs, Ark., in the 
winter season. It bore all the earmarks of being the 
famous summer resort for which it is noted. I stayed 
here but a day, looking about, and then left for Albany. 

ALBANY, N. Y. 

I failed to see little of interest in the capital of the 
Empire State outside the State house. The general ap- 
pearance of Albany, in fact, proved less attractive than 
numerous cities I have been in. Here also I looked about 
but a day, as I was nearing the end of my journey, and 
time was getting short. 

NEW YORK CITY. 

I boarded a day boat for New York for the purpose 
of seeing the scenery along the famous Hudson River, 



140 

as I had never been further up than West Point. It is 
a trip any one who can should take. 

I found upon reaching New York fewer great holes 
in the streets than when I left, two years before. But 
the same street blockades, the same crowds, the same 
jangling of street car and ambulance bells, the same noise 
overhead ; the same tall buildings and more of them ; the 
same crowds at an improved Coney Island — with but 
minor changes, New York seemed little different. 

I spent several days here renewing old acquaintances, 
as it had been my home a number of years previously. 
This city is so well known that I do not attempt to go 
into its distinctive features, as they are imitated to a large 
degree in both small and large places of the country, I 
journey on to Philadelphia, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA, 

In Philadelphia, the up-to-date methods adopted in 
our larger cities are not to be seen. The street railway 
companies extort a charge of 3 cents for transfers. I 
know of no city whose people are so oppressed by a 
public carrier. In the suburbs the long rows of two- 
story brick houses is an improvement in this respect to 
the living system of the larger cities. Each house is 
built for one family. Denver, Col., seems to have copied 
from this plan. From here my next stop was Wilming- 
ton, Del,, in which State I had never been. 

\m.MINGTON, DEL, 

Along the curb market of Wilmington was displayed 
the greatest variety of vegetables, fruits, etc., I had ever 
seen at one time. Wagons were strung along for nearly 
three-quarters of a mile. The white stoops and white- 
painted window shutters and sills seen in Wilmington 
are copied, no doubt, after that well-known feature of 
Philadelphia. The historical Brandywine River runs 
through this city. A chain of parks is made of its banks, 



141 

and a boulevard follows it for a considerable distance. 
From here I traveled to Baltimore. 

BALTIMORE, MD. 

Upon entering the once-business section of Baltimore, 
the tale of the ruins of Pompeii crowds into one's mind. 
It will take lo years to rebuild what the fire destroyed. 
This city, Washington and New York are the only cities 
I know of where wires of all kinds are placed under- 
ground. 

The large cities of which I have just made so brief 
mention are so well known and have been so widely 
written up for years, that I do not attempt to give them 
the same space I have devoted to those places which are 
not so well known. I have tried all through my narra- 
tive to confine myself to explanations and partial descrip- 
tions of those places and points of interest which can be 
strictly considered the distinctive points of more than 
ordinary interest in North America. 

WASHINGTON, D. C.-THE END. 

It was Wednesday, August 17, 1904, when I reached 
Baltimore. I left for Washington at 6 o'clock in the 
afternoon of the same day. 

It was on Friday, February 20, 1903, I started west- 
ward on my year and a half trip. 

The miles have been reduced to yards, as the train is 
entering Washington, the most beautiful city in North 
America. I was two days ahead of time and had trav- 
eled 21,630 miles. 

When making the bend into the depot — the last turn — 
I looked from the car window. The shadows from the 
higher places had crept over the valley, and, reflecting 
off the gold dome of the Congressional Library to the 
leafy hillsides eastward, were the wasting shades of a 
yellow halo from 

"An orange sunset, waning slow." 



ITINERARY. 



Starting February 20, 1903, the following are the cities and places 
at which I stopped and visited, with the number of miles from each 
and the total traveled : 



Washington, D. C, to Los Angeles, 

Cal 3,151 

MARCH. 

Los Angeles to San Francisco 482 

APRIL. 

San Francisco to Seattle, Wash 958 

Seattle to Victoria, B. C, and return 160 
MAY. 

Seattle to Portland, Ore 186 

Portland to San Francisco, Cal 773 

San Francisco to Eureka and return 456 

JUNE. 
San Francisco to Yosemite Valley 

and return 532 

San Francisco to Salt Lake, Utah. . . 879 

JULY. 
Salt Lake to Yellowstone Park and 
return 884 

AUGUST. 
Salt Lake to Colorado Springs, Col,. 666 
Colorado Springs to Denver 75 

OCTOBER. 

Denver to Pueblo 118 

Pueblo to Canon City (Royal Gorge) 

and return 86 

Pueblo to Albuquerque, N, M 405 

Albuquerque to Grand Canyon of 

Arizona, Ariz 442 

Grand Canyon to Prescott 144 

Prescott to Phoenix 136 

NOVEMBER. 

Phoenix to El Paso, Tex 432 

El Paso to City of Mexico, Mexico. . 1,225 

DECEMBER. 
City of Mexico to Veracruz and 

return 528 

JANUARY (1904). 
City of Mexico to Cordova and re- 
turn 396 

City of Mexico to Cuemavaca and 

return 148 

City of Mexico to Guadalajara 380 

Guadalajara to Celaya 198 

Celaya to San Antonio, Texas 780 

San Antonio to Austin 80 

Austin to Houston 166 

TOTAL 



JANUARY (1904)— C'orj. 

Houston to Galveston and return... . 

Houston to New Orleans, La 

New Orleans to Jacksonville, Fla. . . 
FEBRUARY. 

Jacksonville to St. Augustine and 
return 

Jacksonville to Atlanta, Ga 

Atlanta to Nashville, Tenn 

APRIL. 

Nashville to Memphis 

MAY. 

Memphis to Little Rock, Ark 

Little Rock to Hot Springs and re- 
turn 

Little Rock to St. Louis, Mo 

St. Louis to Louis\ille, Ky 

Louisville to Mammoth Cave and 
return 

Louisville to Cincinnati, Ohio 

Cincinnati to Cleveland 

Cleveland to Buffalo, N. Y 

JUNE. 
Buffalo to Niagara Falls and return 
(twice) 

JULY. 

Buffalo to Toronto, Canada 

Toronto to Montreal 

Montreal to Ottawa and return 

Montreal to Quebec 

Quebec to Halifax. N. S 

Halifax to St John, N. B 

St. John to Portland, Me 

Portland to Old Orchard and return 
Portland to Boston, Mass 

AUGUST. 

Boston to Newport, R. I 

Newport to Fall River, Mass 

Fall River to Boston 

Boston to Rutland, Vt 

Rutland to Saratoga, N. Y 

Saratoga to Albany 

Albany to New York City 

New York to Philadelphia, Pa 

Philadelphia to Wilmmgton, Del. . . 

Wilmington to Baltimore, Md 

Baltimore to Washington, D. C 



96 
362 
615 



120 
845 
318 

197 
130 
263 

183 



100 



70 



163 
674 
190 
340 
26 
115 



20 
49 

167 
63 
39 

150 
90 
27 
68 
42 



21,630 MILES 



LBJa'. 



MAR 3 19C3 






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